Food Tips to Keep Your Pet Healthy This Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Van Meter Veterinary Clinic!

Thanksgiving launches the season for family, friends, and holidays. Pets can enjoy the holidays, too, and we have a few Thanksgiving tips to keep your pets healthy and thankful:

Your Pet’s Regular Diet:  It is best to keep your pet on their regular diet during the holidays. You can give your pet small amounts of cooked foods, but avoid sweets, uncooked foods and especially alcoholic beverages.

Thanksgiving Food:  Your pet may enjoy a little nibble of turkey; just be sure it is fully cooked. Do not offer your pet raw or undercooked turkey, it may contain salmonella bacteria, raw bread or cookie dough or cake batter. Skip offering your pet a little stuffing. Sage and other herbs used to make stuffing can contain essential oils and resins that can cause gastrointestinal upset and central nervous system depression if your pet eats it in large quantities. Cats are especially sensitive to the effects of some essential oils, so please be sure not to leave the stuffing on a kitchen counter your cat loves.

Small Amounts are Best:  A few small boneless pieces of cooked turkey or a small sample of mashed potatoes should not be a problem for your pet. However, larger quantities or an overindulgence could be a problem. They could wind up with a case of stomach upset, diarrhea or even worse—an inflammatory condition of the pancreas known as pancreatitis. In fact, it is best keep pets on their regular diets during the holidays.

A Pet Holiday Feast:  Your pet can enjoy their own feast. Rawhide strips, Greenies, or a stuffed Kong (remember the food rules!) make a fun holiday for your pet. Add the tidbits of cooked turkey, vegetables and gravy inside a Kong toy or add them to your pet’s dish along with his/her regular food. If you feed them at the same time, you and your family eat, they will have a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner!

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Call us if you have any questions or if your pet needs anything this holiday season