Sunflower Seeds

[Kirislin]

does anyone know if sunflower seeds are good for dogs. I bought some thinking I might sprinkle a small amount on their food each day. I know they've got alot of oil in them.

[Nekhbet]

I would grind them up in a coffee grinder or food processor first, would be good fiber too. Whole though you'll probably see most of them come out that way in the poop

[blakkjackal]

They'll probably work alright as fiber but there is no notable nutritional value in sunflower seeds (or any kind of seeds really) for dogs. I prefer flaxseed meal though for fiber. If fed without grinding they will definitely pass whole.

[dotdashdot]

Well my dogs clean up after the birds and I can't say there is a negative effect, as you say they are very high in fat/oil (not so great for birds) so I wouldn't give many. And I second grinding/pulverising, I can tell when the birds have spilt a lot of seed - spotty poop. They seem to really really enjoy bird seed! I can make Cleo do tricks for it! Now I've switched 3 of my birds to pelleted diet only, and that too is very popular with the doggies lol :laugh:

[Kirislin]

Oh, I forgot to say they've already had the outer husks removed, so they're the little grey looking ones.

[blakkjackal]

Seeds won't digest unless you grind them and even ground up they mainly act as fiber absorbing excess liquids.

[Kirislin]

Seeds won't digest unless you grind them and even ground up they mainly act as fiber absorbing excess liquids.

Well, I've just done the first poo patrol since giving them some yesterday and sure enough, they're all still there completely intact. :laugh: