Thanksgiving Dinner for Your Pets – What is Safe and What Isn’t!

Thanksgiving is almost here and of course, the best part is the food. Who doesn’t love a Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings! We all know that our pets will be right there with us while we cook and eat; therefore, it is important to choose wisely what your dog or cat samples. 

And, as always with human food, less is more!

Below is What Is Safe & Was Is Not – Plain is Good, Sauces Are Bad!  

The Safe Thanksgiving Food For Your Pets:

Turkey Without The Skin

Turkey is always a great lean protein that you can share with your cat or dog. Make sure to remove any excess skin or fat before sharing it with your dog or cat, stick with white meat, and look out for bones. Make sure it is cooked enough and of course, don’t put any gravy on it.

Pumpkin Is OK & Great For Digestion – Plain Pumpkin

Pumpkin is good for dogs and cats to eat not only because its’ healthy, bursting with vitamins, beta carotene and fiber, but also because it helps with digestion.  Might be just the right thing to feed your cats and dogs – but not pumpkin pie – just plain pumpkin!

Mashed and Sweet Potatoes

Potatoes are a great, filling vegetable to share with your pet. However, even though the potatoes themselves are not harmful to pets, be aware of additional ingredients used to make mashed potatoes. Same with sweet potatoes. Plain and cooked!

Stuffing

Plain stuffing is fine for your dogs and cats. However, most of us add garlic, onions and mushrooms which are very dangerous for your pets (see below).

Vegetables

Nothing wrong with some raw carrots and broccoli for your pets. Just make sure they are chopped properly. A great way to get some vitamins. Corn – without the cob is good as are green beans.

Baked Rolls are OK…

A few nibbles of a baked roll are OK for your pets. Make sure they are cooked as raw dough ca upset your dog or cat’s stomachs. If you are baking rolls, make sure your cats or dogs don’t get into it or any extraneous pieces on the floor.

The Not So-Safe Thanksgiving Food For Your Pets

Nuts Are Very Dangerous

Walnuts and nuts are very dangerous for your dogs. They can cause ‘macadamia nut toxicosis’ if ingested. Within twelve hours of eating them, your dog can go into shock and have tremors. They will usually go away, but don’t ever let your dog eat either of these nuts.

Mushrooms, Onions & Garlic

Mushrooms are very dangerous for your pets. If your dog or cat ingests mushrooms, you can expect a slew of side effects that could become quite severe, including vomiting, seizures, coma and possibly death. Both onions and garlic contain sulfides, which are toxic to dogs and can cause the destruction of red blood cells, leading to anemia. This is the same for cats. Garlic does not digest well.

Sage and Nutmeg

Sage contains oils and resins that can upset a dog’s stomach and eventually his central nervous system. When cooking with sage, make sure your dog and/or cat are not in the kitchen. Cats are especially sensitive to the effects of certain essential oils. 

Nutmeg has mild hallucinogenic properties that, when ingested, can cause seizures, tremors and central nervous system problems.  

Cranberry Sauce is A No!

A lot of cranberry sauces aren't just the popular stuff we see come right out of the can. Nuts, raisins, sugar and even pineapple are added to many recipes and even just plain cranberry sauce has too much sugar making it a ‘no’ for our pets.

Chocolate, Xylitol or Any Dessert

As most dog owners know, chocolate is also very, very bad for dogs. Never feed your dog chocolate on Thanksgiving or any other occasion. And most pies are not suitable for your pets. The dough and extra ingredients can make them sick.

When preparing or eating your Thanksgiving, just watch the ‘no’ list and always remember that less is more. A little sampling doesn’t hurt our pets as long it’s not of the dangerous sort!

If you’re having some fruits and vegetables with your Thanksgiving dinner, you might want to know which fruits and vegetables are safe for your dogs and cats.