Thanksgiving Pet Safety

 

The Houston Humane Society’s Animal Wellness Clinic sees a drastic increase in patients suffering from gastroenteritis, pancreatitis, and other preventable digestive issues during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  Avoid feeding your pet the following:

 

Turkey skin – fatty foods like turkey skin can easily lead to an upset stomach.  In addition, many turkeys are basted with ingredients such as sage, garlic, and onion – all of which are harmful to pets.

Bread Dough – Warm bread dough rises.  When ingested by your pet, that process happens inside their stomach and often results in serious vomiting and painful abdominal bloating.

Popular Spices – Nutmeg can cause seizures and problems with your pet’s central nervous system; cinnamon can cause diarrhea, liver disease and low blood sugar – both used in popular pumpkin desserts.

Cranberry Sauce – While cranberries can be beneficial to pets, canned and processed cranberry sauces typically contain large amounts of sugar or high fructose corn syrup.

Turkey Bones – Cooked bones are a big hazard for dogs! They can cause coming, or worse, easily splinter and damge or puncture the stomach and intestines resulting in life-threatening injuries.

Quick list of some dangerous ingredients for pets: onions, garlic, grapes and raisins, caffeine, chocolate, cherry, peach and plum pits, salt, mushrooms.

 

A few pet safe alternatives to consider:

 

A stuffed Kong toy filled with your pet’s favorite treats

Baby carrots

Apple slices (no seeds)

Canned pumpkin (small amounts of plain, non-seasoned variety only)

 

We’ve made a quick guide to share on social media to help your friends and family keep their pet safe this Thanksgiving. 

Just copy/paste or download the image below to share.