Thanksgiving is a time for eating good with the family. If you’re like most people, you probably include your pets in the definition of family. But before you go sharing the table foods with your pets, you need to know which ones are safe and which ones you shouldn’t feed to your pet at all. It’s perfectly fine to share some traditional Thanksgiving foods with your pet and give them a bowl full of goodies. Here’s a look at safe and unsafe ingredients to help you avoid making an emergency call to your veterinarian in Bend.

Thanksgiving Foods That are Safe for Pets

Cats are more likely to turn their nose up at vegetables and go straight for the turkey, but there are always exceptions to the rule. Dogs are omnivorous and willingly eat vegetables when they’re offered. Following is a list of foods that are safe to feed to pets of either species:

• Turkey when unseasoned and cooked
• Carrots with no seasoning
• Pumpkin
• Eggs when cooked
• Green beans when raw
• Sweet potatoes
• Corn
• Apples

Go ahead and set aside pet-sized portions of these foods while you’re prepping for the big meal. That way you can turn your attention to putting them together into a meal that you can give your pets while the humans are eating theirs.

Dangerous Thanksgiving Foods for Pets

Unsafe foods cause a whole host of illnesses in pets, ones that are avoidable by not feeding them to pets in the first place. It’s a fact there’s always a risk of accidental ingestion in the form of food being dropped on the floor or a sneaky pet grabbing food and taking off with their prize. However, knowing what foods are unsafe for pets means you can control what you bring into the home and isolate ingredients to prevent them from getting into curious mouths. The following list of foods are bad for both cats and dogs:

• Raw dough
• Grapes and raisins
• Onions
• Garlic
• Chocolate
• Chives
• Raw meats and eggs
• Bones cooked and uncooked
• Xylitol

Onions, garlic and chive are the most dangerous foods for cats and dogs. They’re highly toxic when ingested and require intervention from a vet when a pet consumes them. Grapes and raisins cause kidney failure in dogs and cats as well. Raw dough with yeast can cause bloating in dogs and may cause a torsion or twist in the stomach. Raw meats and eggs contain salmonella and can cause salmonella poisoning. Chocolate contains methylxanthines that can cause vomiting diarrhea, panting, seizures and more. Xylitol is a sugar alcohol that is toxic to dogs and can cause low blood sugar, liver damage, and vomiting.

Call the Vet if Your Pet Ingested Something That They Shouldn’t Have

Some ingredients are highly toxic to pets and need to be cleared out of your pet’s digestive system as soon as possible. Call the emergency vet as soon as you notice something is wrong with your pet. The sooner your pet gets treatment, the less likely they’ll suffer ill effects from the food.