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My dog ate spoiled ham and vomited. Should I take him to the vet?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed | Male | neutered | 10 years and 10 months old

Could it have hurt my dog for me to have given him spoiled, smoking slices of hot honey smoked ham? I gave him three slices of ham after cooking each thoroughly. I'm not sure, but each may have been a 1 or 1.5 weeks past their expiration date, which would be very concerning to some, except growing up I'm confident I had deli meat that was older than that (though I wish I hadn't) and I seemed fine. He vomited at least two slices within a couple to few minutes, but seemed fine besides that.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on November 5th, 2016

You should not feed spoiled meat or other spoiled food to your dog. You are risking gastrointestinal problems such as gastritis, pancreatitis and diarrhea. That said, just because the "Best by XXXXX" date has run out, does not mean the food is spoiled.
It is best to just feed your dog proper good quality dog food.
It is possible that the ham was not spoiled,. but the spices and salt in the ham caused the tummy upset. If he is fine now (no diarrhea nor further vomiting) then there should be no reason to worry.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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