Thanksgiving should be a wonderful day celebrated with family and friends but the truth is, it can also be very hectic, distracting, albeit wonderfully exhausting. Everyone wants their family, friends, and pets to enjoy a drama free holiday, but sadly many dogs become ill or injured on Thanksgiving.
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The reason for this is very simple- with a house full of guests coming and going, bustling around the kitchen, and distractions galore, it is easy to overlook a potential danger that at any other day of the year, probably would not happen.
No one wants their dog to become ill or injured on Thanksgiving and considering that most veterinarian offices are also closed for the holiday, if the worst does happen you’re likely to find yourself sitting in the nearest pet emergency hospital.
Thanksgiving dangers for dogs
To help you prevent your dog from accident and illness this Thanksgiving, we’ve put together a list of the most common holiday hazards that may be easily overlooked.
Escaping the yard or house. With guests and children coming and going, it is easy for a gate or door to be left open and a dog to slip away unnoticed. If possible, designate a safe place for the dog to enjoy with little risk of escape. Assign a family member to caring for the dog, including making potty breaks, greeting guests, and returning to the safe place. Crate your dog if needed.
Feeding the dog table scraps. In our experience, no matter how hard you drill this home, there is always that one guest that will feed the dog when you’re not looking. If your dog suffers from a health condition that could get exacerbated by eating too many scraps, it may be best to keep the dog away from guests during mealtimes. Even the healthiest of dogs can be offered that one bite too many or offered a food your guest has no idea is toxic.
Empty the trash often. Empty the trash as often as possible to ensure the dog stays out of the trash. Thanksgiving tends to be the day that many hazards find their way into the trash such as, cooked bones, foil, corn cobs, string the turkey was tied with, meat fats and skin, uneaten food (including desserts and foods that may contain ingredients toxic for dogs).
Keep decorations out of the dogs reach. Thanksgiving decorations often contain wires, candle wax, have chemical fragrance, may contain lead based paint, dried flowers, dried corn cobs, gourds with lacquer, or contain sharp edges, batteries, and more that can harm dogs.
Hot stoves and other appliances. Use caution with the stove, oven and appliances. Even the best behaved dogs will try to sneak a treat now and then. Large dogs can easily reach the top of the stove or countertops to investigate the tantalizing aromas or investigate hot plates, toaster ovens, crock pots, blenders, food processors and more.
Sugar free desserts and candy. Offering your guests sugar free options is wonderful but artificial sweeteners are toxic for dogs so be sure to keep any sugar free desserts and candy out of the dogs reach and throw leftovers in the trash where they cannot be found. Xylitol, a natural sugar-free sweetener, is often found in gum, mints, mouth wash, nasal sprays, chewable vitamins, baked goods, chocolate, hard candy, etc. When ingested by dogs, it can result in a massive insulin spike, causing a life-threatening hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and even liver failure with higher doses.
Dessert salads, pies, cookies and cakes. Thanksgiving desserts often contain dried fruits such as raisins and currants and dessert salads often contain grapes, all of which are toxic for dogs and may cause kidney failure. Macadamia nuts are toxic as is chocolate, especially dark chocolate, baking chocolate or pure cocoa powder.
Spices. Some spices can be toxic for dogs and while, in general, a dog would have to ingest a lot of spice to become seriously ill. However, depending upon the dog’s weight and sensitivity level, small amounts can cause digestive problems. It is also not unheard of for a dog to sample spice from the container. Specific spices dangerous to dogs include nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger. While a bite of something that contains spice is probably not toxic for a dog, according to the Pet Poison Helpline, “Nutmeg contains a toxin called myristicin. The small amount of nutmeg used in recipes is very unlikely to cause serious toxicity, though mild stomach upset could occur if a small amount is ingested. If a very large amount of nutmeg is ingested, myristicin toxicity can cause symptoms including hallucinations, disorientation, increased heart rate, high blood pressure, dry mouth, abdominal pain, and possibly seizures. Symptoms can last up to 48 hours. A pet would need to ingest a very large amount of nutmeg, and this is very unlikely to occur if a dog or cat ingests food with nutmeg in it.”
Onions, leeks, chives, and garlic. All of these foods have the potential to be toxic to dogs and should be kept out of reach.
Unbaked raw dough. When raw dough reaches a dogs stomach, the yeast will rise and release carbon dioxide, which can cause a distended abdomen and BLOAT – potential life-threatening event of gastric dilatation-volvulus (GDV). The yeast and sugar in the unbaked dough are also metabolized to alcohol, which can result alcohol poisoning in dogs.
Alcohol poisoning. The obvious culprits including a dog ingesting an alcoholic beverage, egg nog, beer, wine and the like, however also watch for desserts, such as rum cake and candy that may contain alcohol. Accidental ingestion can cause severe coma, slowed respiration, and life-threatening low blood sugar in dogs.
Medications and other miscellaneous items. If you have house guests, they may not even think about your dog exploring their suitcase, purse, or tote. Be sure to ask them to keep all medications and anything else the dog may eat put away and do a visual sweep to ensure you don’t see anything left out.
Let’s keep our dogs safe and sound while we enjoy the holidays! Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!
PROTECT YOUR DOG FROM THESE SURPRISING THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY HAZARDS
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