Can dogs eat cherries?

Cherries are a stone fruit where the risk clearly outweighs the benefit for dogs. The pit contains cyanogenic compounds, and because the fruit itself is so small, removing the pit from every single one is impractical. Here's why cherries are riskier than other stone fruit, and how to think about them.

Why only in moderation

The flesh of a ripe cherry on its own isn't toxic and contains vitamin C and antioxidants. The trouble is that cherries are small, so separating the flesh from the pit piece by piece is fiddly in practice, and it's easy for a dog to swallow a whole cherry, pit and all, without anyone noticing.

The pit, stem and leaves of a cherry all contain amygdalin, a cyanogenic glycoside that breaks down into hydrogen cyanide. The risk of genuine poisoning from one or two pits is low, but it rises with quantity, especially if a dog has access to a cherry tree in the garden and eats a handful of fallen fruit, pits included.

Beyond the chemical risk, there's a mechanical one: the small, hard pits can easily lodge in the oesophagus or small intestine, particularly in small and medium breeds. In practice, this kind of blockage is a more common reason for an emergency vet visit than actual cyanide poisoning.

Given that the benefit from cherries is modest (safer fruit such as blueberries or strawberries offers similar nutrients) and the pit risk is hard to manage in such a small piece of fruit, many vets recommend leaving cherries off the menu entirely, even though a single piece of carefully pitted flesh isn't dangerous on its own.

How to serve cherries

• If you do decide to offer cherries, always pit each one individually and offer only a small amount of clean flesh.
• Never give cherries with the stem or leaves attached, and don't let your dog play with branches either.
• Fence off any cherry tree in the garden so your dog can't help itself to fallen fruit.
• Consider reaching for a safer, pit-free fruit instead, such as blueberries or strawberries.

Risks

• A pit lodging in the oesophagus or intestine, a common and serious risk that can require surgery.
• Cyanide poisoning from eating a larger number of pits, stems or leaves.
• The difficulty of reliably pitting every piece of such small fruit, so a single overlooked pit is easy to miss.
• Unrestricted access to fallen cherries in the garden, where a dog can eat several pieces, pits included, at once.

Symptoms to watch for

• Gagging, restlessness or refusing food when a pit gets stuck
• A bloated or painful abdomen (possible blockage)
• Rapid breathing, bright red gums (rare, with cyanide poisoning)
• Trembling, weakness after eating a larger number of pits at once

Your dog already ate cherries. What now?

1. If your dog swallowed one or two whole pits, watch it for 24-48 hours to check it's passing stool normally and isn't gagging or retching.
2. If it had access to fallen cherries and ate several at once, pits included, contact your vet even without immediate symptoms because of the cyanide risk.
3. Laboured breathing, bright red gums or trembling are signs of a possible emergency, call your vet right away.