Keep your pets safe this Thanksgiving. Here are 10 do’s and don’ts for Thanksgiving pet safety:

–Don’t gives your pets any cooked turkey bones or carcasses. Be sure to wrap them up well and secured away from where dogs can find them. If you do give them a piece of turkey, ensure that it’s well cooked, no skin, and boneless. Keep your eye on the dog as entire turkeys have been known to disappear. Cooked turkey bones are sharp, potentially dangerous, and can be lodged in their digestive system for days.

–Don’t feed your pets stuffing, cranberry sauce, gravy, rich mashed potatoes. Stuffing and other foods may have herbs,  spices, onions, raisins & grapes which are toxic to dogs. Once I was leaving town during Thanksgiving and took my hounds to a pet kennel. For $5 extra per dog, my dogs could’ve feasted on Thanksgiving dinner – yes, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy. I declined. As I drove away, I questioned the common sense of the commercial entity that was caring for my dogs.

–Do stuff a Kong with kibble, dog treats or add a few nibbles of cooked turkey and vegetables. Yum.

–Do guard the bread machine or if dough is rising on the counter, remove to safer ground. When raw bread dough is ingested, the animal’s body heat causes the dough to rise in his stomach where it expands. The dog max experience bloating and abdominal pain and require emergency surgery.

–Do exercise your dog a little harder on Thanksgiving. A tired dog is a good dog especially during dinner time.

–Don’t leave beer, wine, and spirits;  move them to higher ground. Dogs can become quite ill, go into a coma or die.

–Do beware of decorations and centerpieces, particularly some plants, flowers, pine cones, and needles. The latter may cause intestinal blockage.

–Do beware of chocolate candy (toxic to dogs), candy and baked goods made with Xylitol, and rich desserts which will cause stomach upsets.

–Don’t make your pet be something he or she is not. If the pet is people shy or doesn’t like to be around small children, put the animal in a crate or in another room.

–Do make sure that your dog is secure and cannot dart outside. Pets should always wear tags with current info and be microchipped.

Sources: ASPCA and American Veterinary Medical Association

(Photo: Google Images – GW Little)

This entry was posted on Monday, November 19th, 2012 at 8:41 pm and is filed under Cats Meow, Feline Fun, Dogs, Canines, Fun with Fido, Barking Encouraged, Pet Health & Safety. Tags for this post: pet safety, poisonous foods pets, Thanksgiving pet safety tips, turkey bones dogs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.