Can Dogs Eat Eggs? Cooked, Plain and the Raw Question

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Quick Facts

This is our own research, not veterinary advice. For nearly every food there are many sources, and they do not always agree with each other. We check each claim against the veterinary and poison control sources, and we say plainly where they disagree. Even so, if you are in any doubt, contact a vet and do your own research before you feed anything to an animal in your care.

An egg is one of the best things you can hand an animal: everything needed to sustain a life, in a package the size of a mouthful. The guidance is to cook them, and salmonella is the reason, so if you are at all worried then boil them. My own view, after years of feeding raw eggs to cats and dogs, is that the risk is very small and the raw egg is the more nutritious version. That is opinion rather than science, and the page says which is which.

Every part of it is usable, and it arrives in a portion an animal can eat in one go, which is why dogs and cats go mad for one. I do not give them often. It is a treat on top of their normal food rather than a replacement for it, and honestly I have never once thought about salmonella.

If a dog has eaten something it should not have, what to do when a pet eats something dangerous covers the sequence, and the wider list of foods we have checked is on our page on what you can feed a pet.

If you are interested in getting into house sitting, our book Travel More for Less puts the whole process in one place: clear, step by step guidance from your first questions to your first confirmed sit, and the reviews that open the door to the next one.

Can Dogs Eat Eggs? Yes, and Here Is the Raw Question

Cooked egg is safe for dogs and it is one of the better things you can hand one. It is complete protein, it is cheap, and almost every dog will take it. Boiled, poached or scrambled all work, as long as nothing else goes in the pan.

The one thing to watch in the kitchen is what you cook it with. Butter and oil add fat a dog does not need, and milk in scrambled egg is a second food with its own lactose question. Salt is a third. A plain egg needs none of them.

Egg is not on the poison control avoid lists. It appears only in the raw and undercooked category, which is the one place the guidance and my own experience part company.

Raw Eggs: What the Guidance Says, and What I Do

The formal advice is to cook eggs before feeding them, and salmonella is the reason. Raw and undercooked egg appears on the poison control list of foods to avoid, and the risk runs in two directions: a dog can pick up a bacterial infection, and so can you, from the shell, the bowl or your own hands while you are clearing up.

That is the consensus, and it is worth stating plainly. If you are at all worried about it, cook the egg. Boiling removes the question entirely and costs you nothing.

My own view is different, and it is opinion rather than science. I have fed raw eggs to cats and dogs, and eaten them myself, for years, and I have never had a single problem with salmonella. Eggs are far more sterile than they were a generation ago, and when there is an outbreak of anything it is identified and recalled within a week. The food supply is policed far more tightly than most people assume.

I also think the raw egg is the more nutritious version. Raw food is generally more nutrient dense than cooked food, and an animal's system has evolved over an enormous span of time to process food in the state it finds it. Over years of feeding raw egg, raw meat and raw vegetables, my expectation is that the dog ends up healthier rather than sicker. I am not dressing that up as a scientific claim, because it is not one. It is what I do and what I have seen.

The Biotin Claim, and Why Cooking Settles It

Raw egg white contains a protein called avidin, and avidin binds biotin, which is a B vitamin. Fed regularly, that binding can interfere with how much biotin a dog actually absorbs.

Cooking denatures the avidin, so a cooked egg has none of this problem. That is the whole reason the advice is "cook it", and it is a clean fix rather than a workaround.

What no source says is how many raw eggs it would take. There is no published number, no threshold and no case report of a dog developing a biotin deficiency from eating raw eggs. So we are not going to put a figure on it. The instruction does not need one: cook the egg, and the question disappears.

Worth knowing that the signs of a genuine biotin problem, if you ever saw one, are dull coat and skin trouble rather than anything sudden.

The Shell

Eggshell is mostly calcium carbonate, and there is a real argument for it as a calcium source. It is also the part where people get into trouble, because a raw shell is a salmonella surface and a sharp fragment is a mouth and throat risk.

If you want to use the shell, the method matters. Bake or boil it to sterilise it, grind it to a fine powder rather than leaving flakes, and give only a small pinch. Even then it is worth asking a vet first, because calcium is one of the few things where adding more can genuinely cause harm, and a dog on a complete diet is usually already getting enough.

In practice dogs tend to lick a shell rather than eat it. Ours have, and the shell goes in the bin afterwards, which is the honest version of what happens in most kitchens. There is no harm in that, and it avoids the grinding and the measuring entirely.

How Many Eggs Can a Dog Have

Egg is 155 kcal per 100 g, so a large egg of about 50 g comes to roughly 78 calories. That is a real amount of food for a treat, which is why the guidance is a fraction of an egg rather than a whole one for most dogs.

Treats should stay under about 10% of a dog's daily calorie intake, which is the standard most vets and the literature give. The portion table below is the one the sources publish, and it is given once or twice a week rather than daily.

Those calorie figures are our arithmetic on the published energy value and a 50 g egg. The frequency is the part to hold on to, because a dog that gets an egg every morning is on a different diet from one that gets one at the weekend.

Scrambled, Boiled or Fried

Boiled is the easiest to control, because there is nothing else in the pan. Scrambled is fine if you use a dry non-stick pan or a splash of water rather than butter, and if you leave out the milk and the salt.

Fried is where it stops being a good idea. It is fat rather than egg at that point, and a dog with a sensitive gut or a history of pancreatitis is the one who pays for it.

Egg in baked goods is a different question again, because the cake is the problem rather than the egg. Sugar, fat, raisins and sometimes xylitol are all more relevant than the two eggs in the recipe.

How I give them is simple. An egg every now and then rather than on a schedule, as a treat on top of the normal food. If it is dry food I will mix it through, which is a good way of making a bowl interesting for a dog that has gone off it. Fresh eggs from a chicken coop are better than shop ones if you can get them, and a cat will take one too. It costs almost nothing, and it is one of the most useful things to have in the kitchen.

Eggs and Cats

Cats can eat cooked and raw eggs on the same terms. It is safe, it is protein, and the same rules apply: cooked or raw, plain, and small amounts.

Cats are obligate carnivores, so egg is a more natural fit for them than fruit is, but it is still a treat on top of a complete diet rather than a substitute for one.

On a Sit: The Owner's Routine Comes First

When on a house sit, I stick to the owner's own food routine, because I do not want to change anything and upset the pet's stomach. It is also not my job to test out different foods. I can suggest things, but more often than not a house owner will continue with their ways.

The best illustration of what an egg means to a dog came from my farm in Iceland. Two dogs had the run of the place and walked all day, every day, and every so often one would come back with a whole egg in its mouth, carried as gently as anything, and leave it at the front door as a gift.

The moment an egg cracked, and they got a taste of what was inside, they went completely wild.

The thing to check first is whether the owner has said anything about eggs. Some dogs are allergic to them, and the signs are the usual ones: itching, ear trouble, or an upset stomach after eating. It is not common, but it is one of the more common food allergies in dogs, so it is worth asking rather than assuming.

And the shell is not the thing to give anybody else's dog. It is the kind of thing an owner will have an opinion about, and a pinch of calcium is not worth the conversation if something goes wrong.

The wider habit that covers this, and most of the other judgement calls on a sit, is asking before you improvise. The full pre-sit question list is worth working from.

Where This Research Comes From

The sources behind this page:

Conclusion

An egg is one of the best things you can hand an animal, and the guidance to cook it is about a risk that I think is very small. If you are worried, boil it, and the question disappears. If you are not, a raw egg is the more nutritious version and the one I have fed for years.

Either way, keep it to a treat once or twice a week rather than a daily habit, and leave the shell alone unless you have asked a vet. It is the egg inside that is the prize.

Caro and I have completed 20 house sits across 12 countries, driven 19,000km across Europe in our 1998 VW T4, and saved over $26,500 in accommodation costs over three years of house sitting.

DM us @housesittersguide, we answer everyone.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can dogs eat eggs?

  Yes, cooked and plain. Boiled, poached or scrambled all work as long as nothing else goes in the pan. Egg is complete protein and it is one of the better treats you can give a dog.

• Can dogs eat raw eggs?

  The guidance is no, and salmonella is the reason. Raw egg appears on the poison control avoid list, and the risk runs to the dog and to the person handling the shell. My own view is that the risk is very small and I have fed raw eggs for years without a problem, but that is my opinion rather than science, and if you are worried, boil them.

• Is the biotin claim about raw eggs true?

  The binding is real, and cooking stops it. What no source gives is a number of raw eggs that would actually cause a deficiency, which is worth knowing if you feed them raw as I do. In practice the amount of raw white it would take is far more than a dog would eat in a treat.

• How many eggs can a dog have?

  The published portions run from a quarter of an egg for a dog under 5 kg (10 lb) up to two eggs for a dog over 41 kg (91 lb), once or twice a week. A large egg is about 78 calories, so it is a treat rather than a meal.

• Can dogs eat eggshells?

  They can, and the shell is mostly calcium carbonate. It needs baking or boiling to sterilise it and grinding to a fine powder, and even then it should be a small pinch with a vet's approval, because too much calcium causes its own problems.

• Can dogs eat scrambled eggs?

  Yes, if you use a dry pan or water rather than butter or oil, and leave out the salt and the milk. Fried egg is the version to skip, because it is mostly fat by then.

• Can cats eat eggs?

  Yes, cooked and plain, on the same terms. Cats are obligate carnivores so egg suits them, but it is still a treat alongside a complete diet.

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