[Maximo]

Originally Posted by pstinard

Hi, if you check the link I posted above, Ask a vet: If avocados are dangerous for dogs, what's up with avocado dog food? - latimes.com and do a wikipedia search on the toxic ingredient in avocados, persin (not pectin), you will find that the persin is in the leaves, bark, skin, and pit of the avocado, not in the flesh, which is what avocado oil is made from. However, small amounts of persin can move from the skin into the flesh, but it is not in amounts that are considered significantly toxic from a dog health standpoint. That is why some dog foods actually contain avocado--it's not significantly toxic, and can actually have a health benefit. Since the tick treatment containing avocado oil is for external use only, and the only way the dog will ingest any of the oil is for it to lick itself, and even then it will only ingest very small amounts of avocado oil, it would pose even less of a threat to the dog's health. If it were me, I wouldn't feed my Yorkie chunks of avocado flesh for a treat, but I wouldn't worry about the small amount of persin that my Yorkie might ingest from a topical tick treatment.

I'm not saying this to encourage use of commercial products containing avocado oil, or to encourage people to feed their Yorkies avocado flesh, I'm just trying to allay fears and dispel urban legends. Check out the links and/or ask your vet just to be sure.