Holidays like Thanksgiving are a time for gathering, feasting, and enjoying time with the people we love. But they are also a time when many household accidents occur. As emergency veterinarians, we should know.
To avoid having to interrupt your holiday festivities with a trip to see us, check out our Thanksgiving pet safety tips.
1. Share responsibly
While we’d certainly never get in the way of your pet enjoying a few table scraps on holidays, it’s important to be extremely cautious about what those scraps are. Turkey is ok, but just make sure that it’s fully cooked and bone-free to avoid bacteria and choking. That said, there are other ingredients often cooked with the turkey that can cause issues. For example, onions and garlic can be toxic to your furry friends. And, seasoning shortcuts like bouillon cubes contain way more sodium than is safe for pets. Generally, just be very careful about what human food you decide to share with your pets. Better yet, include your pet in the festive celebration by serving them their own dinner with some pet-safe extras. Maybe even some gravy on top.
2. Sweets safety
As you cook up holiday desserts, keep a close eye on mixing bowls. Baking ingredients like raw eggs, artificial sweeteners, chocolate, and raw yeast can be extremely dangerous for pets. There will probably be a lot going on in the kitchen so it may be best to devise a clever way of keeping your pets out while you prepare your Thanksgiving meal.
3. Decor danger
We love a festive tablescape and people who really embrace the holiday spirit in their homes. However, make sure that the decorations you buy and use are safe for your pets. And we recommend consulting the ASPCA toxic plant list when choosing the flowers and plants for your centerpieces,
4. Be our guest
If you’re like a lot of families we know, your house can get pretty full on holidays. Some pets soak up the attention from visitors while others get easily overwhelmed. Either way, we recommend having a quiet room away from the action set up with a pet bed, toys, food, and water. That way they have a place to escape to if they need a little alone time. Also, don’t forget to let guests know not to feed your pets anything without asking you.
5. Trash time
Before you allow your turkey coma to fully set in, be sure to take out the kitchen trash. It probably has all manner of things in there that are unsafe for your pets, like bones, onions, chocolate, just to name a few. While your family is lounging in front of the game, a sneaky pet could be digging for scraps, and we definitely don’t want that.
This Thanksgiving, we are grateful that we are in a position to help so many amazing animals and their owners during difficult and scary moments. But this year, we hope that you get to stay at home safe and happy with your family (furry members included).
