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They’re colorful, they make intriguing noises and they’re crunchy. The billions of cicadas about to emerge from their 17-year slumber will intrigue dogs, but canines shouldn’t chow down.
Not because the cidadas are toxic. In fact, they’re even high in protein. (Humans sometimes enjoy them dipped in chocolate or stir-fried.)
Dog doctors are warning against excessive snacking on the insects because “the crunchy shell can cause irritation to the stomach lining when eaten in large volumes,” says veterinarian Stephanie Liff, medical director at Pure Paws Veterinary Care in New York City. “Prevention is important.”
An emerging curiosity
Hordes of cicadas will emerge from the ground this spring in 15 states in the mid-Atlantic and Midwestern parts of the country as the soil warms to 64 degrees. Known as Brood X (the Roman numeral for 10), these insects will crawl out of the ground, shed their shells and look for a mate after their long hibernation.
The heavy cicada infestation is sure to be a curiosity for dogs as they’re being walked or when they’re sniffing around the backyard. But dog owners should make sure their pets don’t overindulge.
If they do help themselves to a big serving of cicadas, it can lead to vomiting, lethargy, diarrhea or poor appetite.
Though rare, pets also may have an allergic reaction when they eat cicadas and can go into anaphylactic shock, which would require an urgent trip to the vet.
‘Dogs don’t know when to stop’
Cicada toxicity has been a common worry since a 2017 social media post about a dog dying from eating the insects went viral. A woman posted that years before, her dog had died after eating more than 300 cicadas.
But it was the excessive amount — not the cicadas themselves — that caused the fatality.
“The big issue is that our dogs don’t know when to stop, and because there may be hundreds of cicadas available to them, some dogs will just keep eating one after the other,” says Georgina Ushi Phillips, a veterinarian in Tampa Bay, Florida.
