Are Thanksgiving leftovers safe for pets?

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Thanksgiving is a chance for families to gather together and enjoy traditional, lovingly prepared dishes. Often, this is also the time when families’ refrigerators are filled with leftovers. Sometimes, these leftovers end up in your pet’s food bowl.

However, many traditional Thanksgiving foods may not be safe for pets. For example, giving your pet a turkey steak with bones in it may cause them to swallow the bones, which may cause choking in dogs and cats. Bones can also irritate your pet’s stomach and throat if swallowed.

Turkey is also typically served at the Thanksgiving table, sprinkled with various spices and slathered in gravy. While it makes meals delicious, the seasoning may contain ingredients that may be toxic to dogs and cats, making them sick. These can include onions, onion powder or garlic.

Turkey skin and fat are also unhealthy for pets and may harm their digestive systems.

Most holiday foods are also high in fat, such as ham, bacon, gravy, or most ground meats. Eating too much fat can cause health problems in your pet, such as pancreatitis or gastroenteritis. While pancreatitis can be fatal, gastroenteritis is a milder illness that causes vomiting or diarrhea.

Salty foods can also be unhealthy. While this is true for humans too—eating too much salt can lead to health problems like high blood pressure—pets consuming less salt can cause health problems.

Desserts can also cause health problems. The most traditional candies at Thanksgiving dinner include nuts or raisins. These ingredients can be dangerous to cats and dogs. Cats may have difficulty digesting nuts, while grapes and raisins may cause kidney failure in dogs. Chocolate is known to be poisonous to dogs.

Pet owners who want to make sure their dogs and cats still enjoy their Thanksgiving meal should stick to simple meals. Filling your pet’s food bowl with pure turkey meat will keep your pet satisfied, as will offering pure vegetables like pumpkin, carrots, or sweet potatoes. However, experts say vegetables should make up no more than about 10% of a pet’s daily diet.