Have you ever gone to Starbucks to indulge in an ice-cold frappe only to have your dog staring at you with those cute puppy eyes begging for a tiny sweet treat?
A Puppuccino seems like the perfect cute snack for your dog, but would consuming one do more harm than good to their health?
Even if it is made with pooches in mind, can it truly be trusted?
In this article, we will be doing an in-depth review of the ingredients of the Starbucks doggy-designed drink and determining whether or not Puppuccinos are safe for your puppies.
Let’s get into it.
What Is a Puppuccino Made of?
With the inability to view this secret menu item in a Starbucks store or on the Starbucks app, you may be a little bit concerned about what exactly is in a Starbucks Puppuccino and whether it will give your are puppuccinos safe for puppies.
Fortunately, the ingredients are simple, with it just being an espresso cup filled with extra whip cream.
Starbucks decided it was time to introduce this item for dogs to entice customers to visit their store when they noticed people purchasing extra whipped cream in the Starbucks Drive-Thru and then feeding it to their pooch as a special treat.
As this was available at no extra cost, Starbucks decided to introduce a delicious Puppuccino as the perfect treat for dogs.
Are Puppuccinos Safe for Your Puppy?
Most milk products are perfectly fine for your dog as an occasional treat.
However, just like humans, pups can develop an intolerance to dairy products, which can make it hard for them to digest a Starbucks Puppuccino. This is very uncommon and often occurs later on in life.
In order to determine whether your canine has health issues relating to dairy allergies, you have to try and observe symptoms of intestinal distress, such as nausea and diarrhea. Other than that, it is very difficult to diagnose sensitivity to dairy.
This isn’t to say that you should keep any type of drink with cream away from your pet. Just like human foods with traces of milk are unlikely to cause severe complications in the body of someone with a dairy intolerance, a dog is unlikely to suffer from the occasional bit of dairy in its body.
Will My Dog Get Sick From a Puppucino?
While dogs with dairy sensitivities are unlikely to get sick from the milk products in a Puppuccino, they can develop an illness if they consume too many sugary treats in one sitting.
If you decide to purchase a couple of Starbuck Puppuccinos for your dog and then travel to Dairy Queen for another popular snack called the Pup Cup, which contains classic Vanilla Ice Cream, you are putting your dog’s health in danger.
This is an even bigger concern if your dog is diabetic, as the extreme sugar content can cause an insane spike in insulin levels, leaving them to require veterinary care immediately.
It is also very important that you don’t replace your usual dairy treats with sugar-free whipped cream, as the artificial sweeteners in this product can poison your pet, resulting in an expensive trip to the vet.
Is Whipped Cream Bad for a Dog’s Diet?
Something you should look out for in your dog’s diet, especially if you tend to feed them Heavy Cream and other dairy products, is high-fat content.
If your pup has a diet that consists of fatty foods, such as the whipped cream in a Starbucks Puppuccino, they are likely to be led down a road full of health issues.
The most common illness that can spike due to an increase in fat and calorie consumption is weight gain, which can result in canine obesity.
You may think this is okay at first, and that it just displays a well-fed dog.
But this isn’t the case at all.
Feeding your dog fattening dairy products and allowing them to go above their daily calories too often will cause fat deposits to clog up their arteries and their heart. The likelihood is that as your dog ages, it will begin to develop heart disease and pancreatitis.
Usually, the only type of treatment for these diseases is surgery and consistent medication, meaning your best bet to prevent your dog from developing something so fatal is to not give it fatty foods too often and only give it a special treat like a Puppuccino now and again.
How Often Can I Feed My Pooch a Puppucino?
All of us never want to see our canine in pain or any kind of illness.
But, of course, we don’t want to deprive them of treats and special occasions.
So, you can still treat them to a Starbucks Puppuccino occasionally, with your safest bet being once every 1-2 weeks. You can move to the lower end of that spectrum if the diet of your pup is extremely healthy, and you do not treat them often during the week.
However, if you are susceptible to giving in to their cute begging eyes and you frequently give them snacks throughout the day, you should try to give them fatty foods like whipped cream as little as possible.
Conclusion
So, is a Puppuccino safe for puppies?
If you only let your dog indulge in this tasty whipped treat every once in a while, it should be perfectly fine.
Whipped cream is a great sweet treat to give to your pet — however, you should only aim to feed them whipped cream on special occasions, as feeding them fatty foods consistently can lead to long-term illnesses like heart disease and canine pancreatitis.
What are your opinions on the Starbucks Puppuccino?
Will you be taking your pup to try it now that you know it’s safe?
Let us know in the comments below.
