Thanksgiving is easily one of the best holidays! What is not to love, good food, family, football and then crazy sales for holiday shopping? However, with the fun and food of Thanksgiving there are some potential hazards for our pets.
To help maintain the holiday happiness I would like to share a few tips to avoid unexpected trips to the hospital or emergency hospital for you and your pets. Afterall, nothing dampens the holiday spirit like a late-night foreign body surgery or a bout of pancreatitis.
With a little awareness you can prevent some holiday hazards from stealing the holiday joy.
Most pet hazards during the Thanksgiving Holiday all revolve around food; lots and lots of delicious food. Let’s face it–what dog does not want to share in some potatoes and gravy, or a turkey leg, especially with that crispy brown skin, smothered in gravy? Any dog would lust after these meals, otherwise they would be forced to turn in their dog union card! Just show a cat some turkey and you’ll watch them start to salivate. Heck, I would too!
Just like us, our pets love these delicious foods, but they cannot always tolerate these meals. Many foods can lead to severe medical issues. Some of these foods can include poultry skin, ham, yeast dough rising, or an entire bowl of mashed potatoes. Also, some holiday foods include ingredients that may be delicious but often contain toxic ingredients for pets. Grapes, raisins, garlic, onions, and chocolate are all delicious but all pose serious health risks to our pets.
Have I mentioned alcohol? There is often quite an abundance of alcohol around the holidays, and none of it is good for our pets. I am sure my Golden Retriever, Lady Bird, would love a glass of wine, but not only would I have her stumbling around the house stealing turkey, I would also run the risk of severe renal damage or potentially fatal pancreatitis.
In short here are some items / foods to avoid this Thanksgiving season.
• Chocolate (milk, dark, and baker’s chocolate are all toxic)
• Turkey
• Grease drippings and bones
• Rising yeast dough
• Grapes
• Onions
• Raisins
• Alcohol