Anonymous
Source: Santa Barbara Humane Society
Although gatherings may be smaller this year, holidays remain a time to share those familiar savory foods. Although it’s tempting to indulge our pets in holiday meals, even just sneaking a taste under the table could cause your pet distress.
Here are some of the foods to avoid sharing with your pet:
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Turkey. While a bite of unseasoned, well-cooked white meat shouldn’t hurt your cat or dog, raw or undercooked turkey -or fatty dark turkey meat can wreak havoc in your pet’s stomach. Bones are a deeper concern as they are fragile and splinter easily, which can cause issues in your pet’s throat or digestive tract if they are swallowed.
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Garlic and onions. While garlic and onions may be a tasty way to season food, they are toxic to cats and dogs. These pungent items can cause gastrointestinal distress and may cause damage to the red blood cells of your pets.
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Unbaked dough containing yeast. Make sure to keep any unbaked dough out of the reach of your pets. Yeast will cause the dough to continue to rise even after swallowed, which could create a blockage in your pet’s stomach.
Additionally, the natural fermentation of yeast in your cat or dog’s stomach could cause alcohol poisoning.
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Alcohol. While a glass of wine or a cocktail might be the perfect complement to your meal, make sure you pet doesn’t get a sip. For cats and dogs, alcohol can cause severe health issues or even death.
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Desserts. Chocolate isn’t the only sweet that could cause health issues for your pet. Grapes, raisins and currants can cause kidney failure in dogs, and experts believe they can also affect cats as well.
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Sweeteners – The sweetener Xylitol is another important food to avoid feeding your pet, as its ingestion can lead to liver failure in both cats and dogs. This sweetener can be found in breath mints, baked goods, some peanut and nut butters and even sugar-free desserts, including “skinny” ice cream.
If you are concerned that your pet has ingested one of these foods, your first call should be to (list local emergency vets that would be open during holidays and the ASPCA poison line)
ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center Phone Number: (888) 426-4435
The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) is your best resource for any animal poison-related emergency, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you think your pet may have ingested a potentially poisonous substance, call (888) 426- 4435. A consultation fee may apply.
This article is very good advice, and I’d also like to add sweet potatoes as something to avoid giving dogs. Several years ago, I read an article extolling the virtues of sweet potatoes as an adjunct to a dog’s diet. They were cited as being highly nutritious and beneficial in many ways. I can’t stand sweet potatoes, but I bought one for my two Huskies to share as part of their dinner. I peeled it and baked it for the appropriate time, then cut it in two so that each Husky could have half. They loved it!
The…fireworks…started a scant couple of hours later, when each dog came down with what can best be described as projectile diarrhea. It was like a La Cañada mudslide. I have never seen anything like it. God, it was awful!
Don’t believe anything you read about sweet potatoes being good for dogs. They really don’t seem to be. Please don’t give your dogs sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving. Or ever.
Cmon, really? Let’s get real SBHS and Edhat.
I think the term “toxic” is being used very loosely here. 2 of 6 items are about splinters/blockage from bones/dough. My Akita lived to age 16, and loved chocolate, which I shared with her in small amounts throughout her life. If your dog or cat should eat any of the above, the most likely result with be gas and the runs and not instant death (e.g. liver failure). So much hysteria these days.
Who would possibly care if their pet got miserably sick, anyway, as long as it didn’t immediately croak? Are you for real?
If you care about your pets, then stop breeding them until their the size of a cupcake, just so you can parade around the supermarket with them in your purse.
What, we should all have primitive dogs as pets? No breeding, no selection for compatibility with humans?, no concerns about feeding them uncooked meats and letting them run uncontrolled through our communities? What nonsense, the hybrid dogs that have been a major source of pleasure in my life were not ill-served by the breeders that created them or the natural forces that made them what they were. Calm down.
Any new food should be introduced in small increments. Sweet potato is ok for dogs in a tiny amount. Actually use it in small amount when a dog is constipated the sweet potato, also pumpkin, helps move the blockage.
I agree with Chem, and RHS you’re misinterpreting the comment. There are a hell of a lot of problems with dog breeding. RHS’s response isn’t even coherent, and he/she is the one who needs to “calm down”… Jeez!