I attempted to make bread this weekend. I say attempted because the loaf looked beautiful, but it was nearly impossible to get out of the pan and then it was really dense and doughy. Perhaps a lesson from a real bread maker is in order. When considering what to blog about this week I remembered that bread dough can actually be dangerous if ingested by an animal. Do you know why?
Rise and Shine
Of course the bread dough I'm referring to must contain yeast. When ingested, the animal's body heat activates the yeast which causes the dough to rise in the stomach. Even a small amount of dough can cause a problem since the dough can rise to many times its size. When the dough rises it causes the animal's stomach to distend and can cause abdominal pain, bloat, vomiting,
disorientation and depression.A by-product of the fermentation process is ethanol - that's right your dog can get drunk. That may seem like a funny statement, but it is a serious condition. The ethanol poisoning can be fatal if not treated.
Treatment for bread dough ingestion usually starts with trying to get the animal to vomit up the bread dough, depending on how long it has been since ingestion. The best results for vomiting are within 30 minutes or less of ingestion since the dough hasn't had much time to rise. There have been cases where the dough has had to be surgically removed. Treatment for alcohol poisoning is IV fluids to flush the ethanol out of the blood and hospitalization to monitor recovery.
The moral of the story....bread dough is a no, no.
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