The holiday season starts in the late fall with Halloween and spans through the New Year in early January. During this time, you can expect to eat a lot more foods that aren’t typically in your everyday diet. Keep your furry friends out of harm’s way by knowing what you can and cannot share with them during your holiday meals.
Yeast Dough
As delicious as dinner rolls are, they can be harmful for your pet. Rolls and bread cooked with yeast can cause painful gas and bloat for your cat or dog, leaving them uncomfortable and potentially sick. Raw dough is particularly harmful, so be sure to set dough in a hard-to-reach area when it is proofing before baking.
Turkey Bones and Skin
Cooked turkey bones can cause digestive tract damage when ingested by your pet, so they should be thrown directly in the trash. Pets can enjoy some turkey meat if it’s white meat. Turkey skin and stuffing can be made with onions or herbs that may upset your pet’s stomach and should be avoided.
Onions, Garlic, and Scallions
Any vegetable in the allium family, such as onions, garlic, scallions, and leeks should be kept far from your pet. These foods are poisonous to animals and can cause vomiting, diarrhea and more. Instead, feed your pet some safe vegetables such as plain celery, carrots, or sweet potatoes.
Food with Xylitol as an Ingredient
Xylitol is an artificial sweetener often found in candy. During the Halloween season, you can expect many of your yummy candy bars to contain this ingredient that is highly toxic to animals. Keep your goodies out of your pet’s reach to ensure they do not get sick. You should also hide the chocolate as the theobromine inside the chocolate is hazardous to your animal.
Dogs and cats are not the most discerning eaters, keep them safe during the holidays by keeping harmful foods away from them. Contact your local veterinarian for more useful holiday pet care advice.
