# Honey - when is it safe to give it to puppies?



## sadysaneto

So, i´ve been feeding my dogs a spoonful of honey everyday for some time now.

As some of you may know, i´m witha a 50 something days litter of 8 campeiro bulldog puppies.

I´ve read honey should br given only to older puppies, due to possible botulism spores (same reason we don´t feed human babies honey), but no one says how old is an older puppy.

Can someone help me out? 60-90-120 days?


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## naturalfeddogs

I have never heard of giving them honey? Seems like it would be an awful lot of sugar. What is the honey supposed to do? Not sure I would give honey.


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## xellil

I wouldn't give honey. Way too much sugar. I don't see a point to it.


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## twoisplenty

Honey is a natural antiseptic and is great to give to females during labour. However I would never give this to my dogs daily or to any of my puppies.

What are the reasons you are using it?


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## Makovach

I know we rub honey in my uncle's chihuahua puppies mouths from the day they are born, but only when there sugar drops. I agree, I don't think I would ever give this on a daily basis or for just "because" and not a particular reason such as to a female during labor or a puppy who's sugar drops.


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## lab mom

I do recall seeing something on the internet about honey. It was when I was looking at home cooked meals for my dogs. I think it may have been a berts product. I think it is to increase a dogs natural immunity. I have never fed honey regularly. Did do it when my male scratched his throat from cooked chicken bones or a cold he had. It did help with a cough!


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## Makovach

lab mom said:


> I do recall seeing something on the internet about honey. It was when I was looking at home cooked meals for my dogs. I think it may have been a berts product. I think it is to increase a dogs natural immunity. I have never fed honey regularly. Did do it when my male scratched his throat from cooked chicken bones or a cold he had. It did help with a cough!


It does help sooth the throat. My holistic Vet recommend it to us when Tucker decided to shred apart the wooden baby gate and was having a cough due to scratching. I've also used it to help sooth the throat with a dog that had kennel cough. We use it ourselves for coughs and sore throats as well.


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## sadysaneto

hey guys.

well, i follow Juliette de Bairacli Levy´s teachings, and she always praised honey as a god send supplement.

you may have interest in this article:

Bee Products Have a Special Meaning for Dogs - Whole Dog Journal Article

remember, there´s sugar, and there are sugars . not all sugars are just plain bad.


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## SaharaNight Boxers

Not that I'm judging you, but more of a general question. The thing that jumped out at me is that it converts to glucose. Elevated levels of glucose can help feed cancer cells. Could honey cause that too?

I've seen bee pollen before and it seems like it has the same properties of bovine colostrum, I think I would go with the bovine colostrum though because it might be more natural or digestible to dogs. 

I wouldn't do something just because of someone's teaching though, each dog is unique and needs different things. You could probably even find a list of dogs that did horrible on honey.


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## sadysaneto

sahara, point taken.

but, then, i´d say that to feed cancer cells, one has to have cancer cells (obviously, its just my mind, i can be wrong).

anyway, following your questions, i´d pose that protein and fat are converted into glucose by dogs. so, it would be like saying that protein and fat would contribute to cancer (and they may, i really just making assumptions here). 

but, as far As i know, honey is a renowed ant cancer agent.

dunno, i may be wrong, but it looks like you guys are worried about the sugar factor alone. 

Honey is just so more than sugar. Again, you may be right, i may be wrong, but, honey has been had medicinal uses for millenia. and, actually, seens to fight cancer.


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## xellil

sadysaneto said:


> Honey is just so more than sugar. Again, you may be right, i may be wrong, but, honey has been had medicinal uses for millenia. and, actually, seens to fight cancer.


fights cancer in dogs or people? I haven't heard of any studies that shows honey fights cancer in canines. In fact the stuff I see says "it works with people so it must work for dogs also." That's a dangerous assumption, in my opinion. 

If you feel comfortable using it, I'm not going to argue or say you shouldn't. You obviously have a pretty strong opinion that it's a good thing. But just remember that dogs aren't people and what's great for us might not be so great for them. Dogs have a zero requirement for carbs in any form.


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## Liz

Sadysaneto,

We all have cells that are potentially cancerous, it is how our immune system deal with these cells when they go wonky that decides if they develop into full blown cancer. the following is a good explanation. 


"It is true that everyone has cells with hits in genes that promote or inhibit cancer. But generally they are either eliminated by immune surveillance or they apoptose before reaching bona fide cancer status since multiple mutations are required before the cell progresses to being cancerous. A good example would be colorectal tumors which have a well-understood and pretty orderly progression. The early stages start out as benign tumors containing abnormal cells that have a few mutations, but at that point they are still not cancer cells. Further mutations in these cells are required to confer the malignant behavior of colorectal cancer. Minor nit about p53: since it suppresses proliferation and promotes apoptosis, it's called a tumor suppressor to separate it from the pro-growth/pro-survival proto-oncogenes like ras and bcl-2. p53 inactivation commonly occurs late in colorectal cancer development and since mutated p53 is able to "take out" the remaining normal protein, one hit is often all that's needed to destroy normal p53 function."

And you are right in that sugar itself is not causing cancer to grow but rather it is excessive insulin which feeds cancerous cells. if you avoid processed foods and foods high on the glycemic index you avoid spikes in insulin. And protein and fat are needed to balance the spikes in insulin. Natural foods tend to do less harm than processed food so honey and fruit is not an issue in small amounts. 

"The most important point is that sugar itself is not bad. However, too much sugar, without enough protein, fat, and fiber to balance it out, can cause our bodies to make too much insulin. It is not the sugar, but rather the insulin that may be a problem for spurring cancer cell growth. To prevent this, you should limit the simple sugar in your diet."

All that being cleared up hopefully, i would avoid giving puppies honey until 10-12 weeks just to be on the safe side. 

Also, we must remember that for allergies raw local honey is best and for about anything else Manuka honey is the gold standard.


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## Savage Destiny

I think everyone is possibly having a mental picture of honey being squirted out of one of those bear-shaped jars directly onto the dogs' food, haha. 

Processed honey is pretty much pure sugar, it's true. Raw, unprocessed honey is an entirely different ball game. It's less a liquid and more a solid, and it has many benefits for people and dogs. I give honey to my dogs occasionally, not every day though. I try to get local raw honey as much as I can, because as Liz mentioned, it's great for helping to combat environmental allergies.


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## sadysaneto

xelil, I probably didnt make myself clear. 

I don´t feed honey for carbs, its not a matter of carbs, sugar or wahtever. I think people tend to be a little obssessed with macro nutrients and forget about micro.

I´m with you on dogs dont need carbs, but i dont feed honey for carbs.

and, like liz noted above, we´re not talking about processed or hollow sugars its frutose and glycose, pre digested.

is it good for dogs? well, i have to assume it is, since i can find any study that states undoubtely that raw is the best option and i go for it anyway.

the samething with honey, the thing I know is that this lady here treated dogs for over 70 years with honey, molasses and herbs with incredible documented results:

A History of Holistic Dog Care - Whole Dog Journal Article


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## xellil

Like I say - I know you have strong opinions on it! I don't believe you give your dogs honey for the carbs. But honey is full of carbs. Raw honey is about 80 percent carbs and they are not complex carbs. Ergo...

I give my dog a plum a day for constipation issues. I know it's not the best thing to do. I'm not giving it to her for the carbs, that's for sure. And i do believe if she gets a cancer the plum will be a source of sugar for it. Plus, I know it's not great for her on any level since dogs aren't built to process carbs. But for now it's a necessary evil.


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## sadysaneto

honey has a GI of 50-60, with a GL of 12, in a 25g serving.

quinoa, for intance, hits 50-55 and 12/150.

again, agree - its pure carbs, dongs dont need carbs - but the glycemic is, by no means, a high one, nor the carb net.

just to make clear, im not picking on you nor being bullheaded, i got ur point u got mine, we stand our opinions, but i dont see why we can have a civilized debate about it, like we´re having.


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## xellil

Contrary to popular opinion, I am able to have civilized debates


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## magicre

i think you two are having a refreshingly marvelous discussion.


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## xchairity_casex

sadysaneto said:


> again, agree - its pure carbs, *dongs* dont need carbs - but the glycemic is, by no means, a high one, nor the carb net.


Hee Heee....


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## sadysaneto

xchairity_casex said:


> Hee Heee....


in my defense, they don´t, neither, lol


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## KittyKat

Savage Destiny said:


> I think everyone is possibly having a mental picture of honey being squirted out of one of those bear-shaped jars directly onto the dogs' food, haha.
> 
> Processed honey is pretty much pure sugar, it's true. Raw, unprocessed honey is an entirely different ball game. It's less a liquid and more a solid, and it has many benefits for people and dogs. I give honey to my dogs occasionally, not every day though. I try to get local raw honey as much as I can, because as Liz mentioned, it's great for helping to combat environmental allergies.


As a beekeeper - just need to correct something here. Raw, unprocessed honey *is* a liquid, just like anything found in a store. It will crystallize given *time* - and can simply be heated up to move it back into its liquid form. The crystallized form shows the massive sugar content in honey - the bees actually beat their wings to cause the water to evaporate from the regurgitated nectar. You end up with... about 80% sugars and 17-18% water. The rest is stuff that act like antioxidants. Things vary a bit though depending on what the bees forage on. 
You can break apart honey comb and your hands will be covered in liquid gold.
Honey from a store tastes like ass, Billy Bee gets it all from bees that visit clover. Bees that visit a wide variety of flowers deliver a much better tasting honey imo, unless you like Buckwheat honey. 

On a side note, I don't feed honey to my dogs. It never even crossed my mind as something i'd want to do.


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