| So Thanksgiving is almost here are your ready? The Holidays are an amazing time of year lots of family and friends and of course food. So to keep your pups tummy free from indigestion or worse; here are a few foods to watch out for and great tips from Dogster.com AVMA Fatty foods such as butter, bacon, fatty meat drippings, gravies and meat scraps may seem harmless but can pose very real threats of pancreatitis. Pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas that can result in clinical signs of vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite and abdominal pain. Some breeds, such as miniature Schnauzers are very prone to developing pancreatitis but all dogs ingesting a large enough quantity of these foods are at risk. Symptoms may not be immediate and can occur up to 4 days after exposure. Discarded food items such as corn cobs, discarded turkey trussing’s, and bones can result in an obstructive risk or gastrointestinal injury that have the potential of requiring surgical removal or repair. Turkey Brine: Who would have thought that the recently popular trend of brining your turkey prior to Thanksgiving would be a risk to your pets?! When you remove the turkey, this salt-saturated solution can be very attractive to dogs and cats, who will readily lap it up resulting in salt toxicosis. Clinical signs are excessive thirst and urination, vomiting and diarrhea. This can potentially result in serious electrolyte changes and brain swelling. Xylitol: Candies, desserts or other foods that are sweetened with an artificial sweetener called xylitol are dangerous to pets. Xylitol can result in a rapid drop in blood sugar in dogs along with liver damage. In the past, we saw xylitol limited to the ingredient lists of sugar-free gums, mints, and dental products but xylitol is now very commonly used in sugar-free or low-sugar baked goods, vitamins and even peanut butter! Even quantities that appear to be very small have the potential to quickly become life-threatening to dogs. Always check the label! Raisins, currents and grapes found in some of our favorite Thanksgiving foods are a very serious concern for dogs as they have the risk of resulting in acute renal failure with even small ingestions. Chocolates in our desserts or treats are dangerous to our pets. Remember that the darker the chocolate, the more serious the ingestion, and the less they will need to ingest to develop clinical signs of vomiting, diarrhea, agitation, tremors, increased heart rate along with potential seizures. Macadamia Nuts are high in fat and carry the risk of pancreatitis. ingestions can result in vomiting, diarrhea, inability to rise or walk normally (they take on a drunken appearance and can even drag their rear limbs as if injured). Holiday decorations are a concern for many reasons. The bouquet of lilies you received from your guests can result in acute renal failure in your cat. Bittersweet flowers are many times included in fall floral arrangements and can cause gastrointestinal upset. Candles can result in burns and flameless candles contain batteries, that when ingested can result in gastrointestinal burns and corrosive injury. http:/www.dogster.com/dog-food/thanksgiving-safety-tips-for-dog-owners https://www.avma.org/public/PetCare/Pages/thanksgiving-pet-safety.aspx In addition to those tips plan ahead and set some ground rules for your pup and your guests. Dogs have these amazingly sad eyes that they use specifically for letting your guests know how much they would love anything on their plate. Obviously you never feed them so… If your dog is going to mingle with the guests it is best to set ground rules let your guests know not to feed your pup and explain what can happen. Aside from the mess you will have to clean up later there is also a chance that all those little table tidbits could cause a trip to the vet and some long term issues. Make an announcement before dinner keep it light but serious, especially if you have non dog people or elderly guests. One of my friends actually put up signs and had little table tents that said please do not feed the dog. She also had a t-shirt made that said do not feed the animals. Now this sounds extreme but the year before her pup was overfed by a few unnamed guests and ended up with a pretty serious case of pancreatitis It was scary and not cheap.Thankfully her pooch is doing ok but still has to be very careful about what she eats.So enjoy the holidays in moderation and just in case you or your pup has a mild tummy upset I have attached just one point to use it is a good one and deals with constipation diarrhea and vomiting oh my… so just in case here you go. Oh and Cat people keep an eye on your counters during prep . Cats tend not to beg they just take things ST36 works for them as well ST36 find the front of the knee and slide your finger down into the little groove on the lateral side of each knee |
