Human Food for Pomeranians: What’s Safe?

From time to time I give my Pomeranians leftovers my family and I aren’t able to finish when having dinner. However, I became curious to know what is safe and what is not safe to feed my Pomeranians, so I did the research!

So is human food safe for Pomeranians to eat? Certain fresh whole foods like fruit, vegetables, and animal protein are safe. Pomeranians can eat food with carbohydrates and sugar in general, while food containing high amounts of sugar, caffeine, sodium, preservatives, and additives are generally off limits.

But that’s not all! Some food can even cause food allergies for your Pomeranian. There are important points to be made for and against certain types of food, so I suggest you read on to ensure your Pomeranian’s diet stays safe.

Which Human Food Can My Pomeranian Eat?

There are nuances to what your Pomeranian can and cannot eat. There are some types of food that they can eat any time and occasionally. It’s important to note that even though there’s healthy human food that’s good for your Pomeranian to eat, it’s always wise to approach your Pomeranian’s diet in a balanced way. Who knows, you may discover by mixing it up that your Pomeranian likes a specific food you never knew about!

Human Food Your Pomeranian Can Eat Any Time

There are a number of types of food Pomeranians can eat, including chicken, turkey, lamb, bison, fish, beef liver, chicken liver, pork, venison, shrimp, crawfish, hamburger meat, asparagus, beets, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cucumber, green beans, kale, spinach, lettuce, peas, potatoes, yams, zucchini, quinoa, rice, pasta, sunflower seeds, peanut butter, peanuts, flaxseeds, cashews, eggs, cottage cheese, cheese, honey, apples, banana, blueberries, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, kiwi, oranges, nectarines, peaches, pear, pineapple, plums, pumpkin, mango, raspberries, strawberries, and watermelon.

Now that seems like a lot, but notice that most are all natural, whole foods. As is the case for most living creatures, these food types are excellent sources of vitamins and nutrients. They’re tasty for both humans and Pomeranians, so as long as your Pomeranian gets a healthy dose of the various kinds of food I just listed, your Pomeranian should be in great shape.

Human Food Your Pomeranian Should Only Eat Sometimes

There are some types of food that aren’t necessarily bad for Pomeranians, but they shouldn’t be given to them at the same quantity and frequency as the previous list of food. These can include bread, crackers, coconut, popcorn, pretzels, potato chips, guava, marshmallow, bacon, pancakes, waffles, and maple syrup.

These types of foods shouldn’t be given to your Pomeranian on a regular basis and therefore shouldn’t be in their regular diet. Consider these as human food treats. With that in mind, my suggestion is to simply not give them these, but it’s up to each Pomeranian parent to decide that on their own.

Which Human Food Can My Pomeranian Not Eat?

Just as there were nuances for food your Pomeranian can eat, there are also nuances to what your Pomeranian cannot eat. Some are wise to avoid in general while others should be avoided like the plague.

Food That Should Generally Be Avoided for Your Pomeranian

Some food should be completely avoided and others can potentially cause issues if eaten in large quantities (think alcohol for humans) but are on the borderline of what’s acceptable. In my opinion, it’s best not to test the waters, but occasionally giving your Pomeranians the following food is fortunately not life or death.

These foods include almonds, pistachios, hot dogs, spam, sausages, deli meats, ham, macaroni and cheese, meatloaf, tacos, corn, wheat, human infant formula, milk products, processed cheese, margarine, pickles, and ice cream.

Food That Should Always Be Avoided for Your Pomeranian

We’ve learned all about the types of human food that Pomeranians can eat always, sometimes, and almost never. The following list of human food should be avoided at all costs. There should be no situation where your Pomeranian is eating the following food.

These foods include onion, garlic, shallots, leeks, chives, chocolate, grapes (raw, juices, jam, and jelly), raisins, currants (same as with grapes), coffee grounds, cinnamon, wild mushrooms, pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts, cherries, fruit pits or seeds, anything with xylitol, anything with caffeine, yeast dough, tomato sauce, and restaurant food.

Dangerous Food Additives and Chemicals

There are numerous additives and chemicals in human food as well as dog food. Even when we eat all natural, whole foods, there are definitely traces of chemicals inside them due to our modern agriculture system. Some of these chemicals can be harmful to Pomeranians, including:

  • Xylitol (a type of sugar)
  • Caffeine
  • High levels of sodium
  • MSG (Chinese “super salt”)

In terms of additives, there can be a number of different ingredients present in human food that could be dangerous to your Pomeranian. One of the very unfortunate characteristics of Pomeranians is that they’re quite susceptible to food allergies. These food allergies commonly show up due to food additives being present in their food. Some additives to avoid in human food include:

  • Corn and wheat gluten
  • BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole)
  • BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene)
  • Ethoxyquin
  • Food dyes (blue 2, red 40, yellow 5 and 6, 4-MIE)
  • Propylene glycol
  • Rendered fat

The problem is that these types of ingredients and chemicals can easily show up in human food, especially nowadays with our more modern food. Being able to know which kinds of additives and chemicals are present in your food may not only help your Pomeranian when they’re eating your leftovers but also you and your family by knowing what good and bad ingredients your taking in.

Make Sure Others Don’t Feed Your Pomeranian

Whenever family and friends come over to my house, my Pomeranians have a field day! They get so excited and end up being the center of attention. One way they’re good at getting attention is by begging for food, and they’ve gotten quite good at it over the years. We all know how irresistible our Pomeranians can be when they’re begging for human food, but it’s important not to fall into their spell.

These are situations where you should ask everyone to practice restraint when feeding your Pomeranian human food. In my opinion, we should know what our Pomeranian’s consuming when it comes to human food because we know what’s best. Our family and friends might not be as knowledgeable about the subject, so it’s not impossible that they feed them food that is a giant no-no.

Feed Your Pomeranian High-Quality Dog Food

Your Pomeranian can’t live off human food alone, otherwise, we’d have no use for dog food. There are a lot of healthy, high-quality dog food brands out there that service our Pomeranians well. They have excellent reputations and they provide safe food that your Pomeranians will love.

When looking for high-quality dog food, it’s important to make sure they state that they don’t add any food additives (or at least minimally add some) to their recipe. This is important because if they don’t state this, then it’s likely the food includes additives that no one should be eating, including sawdust.

Another sign to look for when investigating healthy, high-quality dog food is that the ingredients listed on the package doesn’t contain so many different kinds of chemicals it’ll make your tongue tied just pronouncing them. The kinds of things some of these companies get away with is scary, so keep a lookout.

The brands I’ve fed my Pomeranians and continue to feed them to this day include Diamond Naturals, Wellness Complete, Nature’s Recipe, Organix Castor and Pollux, Blue Wilderness, Purina, Hills, Taste of the Wild, Blue Buffalo, and Rachel Ray. I’m sure there are more brands that have stellar reputations, but these are the brands that I know work well.

Related Questions

Can Pomeranians get sick from eating human food? Yes they can, but they shouldn’t become severely ill. They might throw-up, but that’s likely the limit.

Will my Pomeranian not want dog food after eating human food? Spoiling our Pomeranians by feeding them human food carries the effect of making them become choosy with what they eat. If you see this happening, it’s best to cut them off from human food for a while.