See also Holiday Food Pet Safety (Nov 2024) for more details.
Is it safe to share the Thanksgiving feast with your pet?
Nobody likes a holiday buzzkill. But our national food culture has changed — from viral food fads to the decline in cooking at home. More money is now spent at restaurants and bars than grocery stores while food marketers have aided and abetted America’s almost constant grazing on highly processed snacks. The sheer quantity of food and ease of access will tempt 4-legged party animals unaware of the risks. So let’s focus on the foods that your furry family members absolutely, positively should not have.
UNSAFE FOODS – Turkey skin/bones Fatty foods Gravy Stuffing Breads (anything made with yeast can cause painful gas and bloating) Onions Garlic Raisins Grapes Currants Nuts Wild mushrooms Chocolate Alcohol Seasoning packets.
SAFE FOODS – Turkey Cooked vegetables such as green beans Sweet potatoes Cranberries Yams Pumpkin Carrots Kale Broccoli Fruits such as apples and blueberries.
KEEP IT SIMPLE. One of the (gastrointestinal) hazards of sharing human food with pets is that our food is usually too rich and highly seasoned and can create problems for them. This is doubly true for pets with preexisting medical conditions.
KEEP IT SMALL. Among children and guests, it is tradition to discreetly feed pets under the table. Another temptation is to give pets too many unfamiliar foods at one time — even safe foods can cause stomach upsets or allergic reactions.
PAWS OFF XYLITOL. Xylitol is a naturally occurring substance widely used as a safe, natural sugar substitute that is extremely toxic to dogs. Most alarming are the number of products in which Xylitol is found. Many of them are nonfood, a distinction without a difference to the dog’s superb ability to sniff out the sweet smell. As some products containing Xylitol are often found in pockets and handbags, make sure the belongings of holiday guests are well out of your pet’s reach. Get in the habit of reading product labels. “Natural sweetener” or “sugar- free” are clues intended as invitations, not warnings.
SECURE THE TRASH. While garbage may be the last thing on your mind, bones, chocolate, onions, and plenty of other holiday hazards will be piling up. Make sure your furry wastebasket raiders and counter surfers cannot begin kitchen cleanup before you do. Cooking twine, turkey bones, toothpicks, discarded fat, soiled pans, and greasy paper towels are just some of the reasons why veterinarians are open on Black Friday.
GUARD THE DOORS. Too many pets have escaped their homes while guests are arriving or leaving. Sometimes they get lost. Now is the time to make sure microchip information and other forms of pet ID are up-to-date.
CREATE A QUIET SAFE SPACE for your pet to escape to when the holiday celebration becomes too much for them.
Feeding pets is a deeply felt pleasure. Assuming no preexisting medical conditions, a plain, modest share of the family feast will avoid messy outcomes. For quick reference you can download the Merck Vet Manual app for free.
Wishing you and your pets a safe & happy holiday season!
