Hops can be poisonous to some dogs, cats

Hops vine cones can be poisonous -- and fatally so -- to some breeds of dogs.
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on January 22, 2014 at 6:53 AM, updated January 22, 2014 at 6:57 AM

Q: I was thinking about trying to grow some hops vines this year to brew my own beer. I have a dog, and a friend told me he heard that hops were poisonous to dogs. Is that true? If so, what kind of problem do they cause? How can hops be used for beer but be poisonous at the same time?

A: Yes, hops can be poisonous to at least some breeds of dogs and also sometimes to cats.

According to the Pet Poison Helpline, the cones are the particular threat when a pet eats enough of them. They can cause a potentially fatal condition in dogs and cats called malignant hyperthermia.


Greyhounds seem to be the most susceptible breed. Of the nine documented dog deaths related to eating hops cones, eight of them were greyhounds.

Also susceptible are golden retrievers, St. Bernards, Dobermans, border collies and English springer spaniels, according to the Pet Poison Helpline.

Since hops vines can grow 20 feet tall or more in one year, the main way hops in the yard pose a pet threat is when the mature, yellow-green cones drop to the ground. So if you monitor that and make sure your dog can't reach any low-hanging cones, you should be fine.

Now that home-brewing is on the upswing, we could see an increase in hops poisoning. I've heard of a lot of people newly interested in growing hops and other drink ingredients.

Probably a bigger threat than hops plants is dogs getting into bags of stored hops or spent, dumped hops sediment.

Hops aren't a threat to people. We can die from malignant hyperthermia, but it's usually related to anesthesia drugs, extreme heat or over-exercise, not hops – at least not the brewed "tea" made from the cones.