Dog Macadamia Nut Toxicity Calculator
Dog ate macadamia nuts — loose, in cookies or in bark? Enter their weight and how many to see the risk level and what to do next.
≈2 g per nut. Also counts in cookies, bark and trail mix.
Enter your dog's weight and how much they had to see the risk.
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 · US (fee may apply)
- Pet Poison Helpline: (855) 764-7661 · US/Canada (fee may apply)
This is an estimate to help you decide whether to call, not a diagnosis. When the amount is uncertain or your pet is small, young or unwell, treat it as more serious and pick up the phone.
Estimate only — not veterinary advice. Every animal is different; for a medication dose, a possible poisoning, or any emergency, call your veterinarian or an animal poison control line right away.
The odd “macadamia syndrome”
Macadamia nuts are unusual: no one is quite sure why they affect dogs, but the result is a recognizable picture — weakness, especially in the hind legs, plus tremors, vomiting and a mild fever, coming on within about 12 hours. The good news is it's dose-related and rarely fatal by itself; the calculator estimates where your dog's amount sits relative to the ~2 g/kg where the full syndrome shows up.
The real risk: what comes with the nuts
Macadamias are most dangerous when they arrive wrapped in something worse — chocolate-covered nuts, cookies, or bark with raisins. Chocolate and raisins are far more serious poisons, so if the treat was a mix, check the chocolate and grape & raisin calculators too, and call your vet.
Frequently asked questions
- How many macadamia nuts are toxic to dogs?
- The classic 'macadamia syndrome' tends to appear around 2 grams of nuts per kg of body weight — roughly 10 nuts for a 10 kg (22 lb) dog — but smaller amounts can cause milder signs. The calculator estimates where your dog's amount falls.
- What does macadamia poisoning look like?
- Weakness — often in the back legs, so the dog can't stand or walks as if drunk — along with tremors, vomiting, a mild fever and lethargy, usually within 12 hours. It looks alarming but is rarely fatal on its own.
- Will my dog be okay?
- Most dogs recover fully within 24–48 hours with supportive care, and many need nothing beyond monitoring. The bigger worry is when macadamias come coated in chocolate or baked into cookies with raisins — those add real danger, so check what else was in the treat.
- What should I do?
- Call your vet or a poison line, especially for a large amount or a small dog. They may induce vomiting if it was recent and advise on monitoring. Keep your dog comfortable and watch the back legs and temperature.
Sources
These are the references behind this calculator. Where a source gives a range we take the midpoint and round toward caution, and where we go beyond what a source states — an extra safety margin, or a rule of thumb rather than a clinical threshold — the page says so in the text above.
- Macadamia nuts — Pet Poison Helpline
- People foods to avoid feeding your pets — ASPCA
- Animal Poison Control Center — ASPCA