Thanksgiving will be arriving in just a few short weeks, and while it’s a wonderful time to gather with friends and family, it’s also time when most of our four legged friends find themselves eating from the table and in some cases getting very sick. We gathered a few bits and pieces of pet safety advice found on the web to help keep your holiday a safe one for and your beastly companions:
- While it’s best to steer clear from giving Fido people feed, if you do decide to feed your pet a little nibble of turkey, make sure it’s boneless and well-cooked. Don’t offer her raw or undercooked turkey, which may contain salmonella bacteria.
- Turkey skin is okay as an occasional one off treat, however, allow Sparky to indulge on Thanksgiving or any other holiday can cause pancreatitis. It is both painful (and messy) and will include over night stays at your vets to nurse him back to health.
- Although bones from our holiday birds look good to pets, they are dangerous and can cause intestinal upset and may even splinter once digested. These splinters can cause damage to the intestines that can lead to infection, intestinal blockage, or even death in some cases if not treated appropriately.
- If you’re baking up Thanksgiving cakes, be sure your pets keep their noses out of the batter, especially if it includes raw eggs—they could contain salmonella bacteria that may lead to food poisoning.
- Keep chocolate away from little Sparky. Chocolate is dangerous for dogs in particular because it contains theobromine, a caffeine-like ingredient that can be toxic to your pet.
A few small boneless pieces of cooked turkey, a taste of mashed potato or even a lick of pumpkin pie shouldn’t pose a problem. However, don’t allow your pets to overindulge, as they could wind up with a case of stomach upset, diarrhea or even worse—an inflammatory condition of the pancreas known as pancreatitis. In fact, it’s best keep pets on their regular diets during the holidays.
While the humans are chowing down, give your cat and dog their own little feast. Offer them Nylabones or made-for-pet chew bones. Or stuff their usual dinner—perhaps with a few added tidbits of turkey, vegetables (try sweet potato or green beans) and dribbles of gravy—inside a Kong toy. They’ll be happily occupied for awhile, working hard to extract their dinner from the toy.