Don't let pets gobble up leftovers

Don't let pets gobble up leftovers
By Dr. Marty Becker
Source: Wichita Eagle

Hungry Americans are busy planning holiday gatherings featuring
ambrosial, super-sized feasts.

The holidays can also be satiating and safe for your pet, provided you
take steps to protect them from often hidden dangers that lurk on the
table and in the trash can.

Before you think about sharing the turkey trimmings, savory stuffing or
half-eaten desserts with your pet, think again.

While overeating during the holidays may precipitate a "Maalox moment"
for humans, it may result in an unexpected and expensive trip to the
veterinary emergency room for pets.

Typically, pet owners don't intentionally feed their pet too much of
the wrong thing.

"The food was just so fragrant and appealing, my usually well-mannered
pooches and kitties have been known to help themselves when my back was
turned or I was out of the room," laments Janice Willard, a veterinary
ethologist from Moscow, Idaho.

Even if you don't end up at the emergency room with a pet, you may end
up on your hands and knees cleaning up a smelly mess. Unexpected
dietary changes can lead to vomiting, diarrhea or worse.

In fact, the holiday season keeps Steve Hansen, veterinary toxicologist
and director of the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, and his staff
very busy. I recommend that you keep its Web site, www.apcc.aspca.org,
handy, not just at the holidays, but for any emergency that might
arise.

Here are the top holiday table taboos:

Bones. Bones are not as healthy and safe as you might think, with
poultry bones being especially dangerous. Raw bones can contain
bacteria and parasites, and cooked bones can splinter.

Fatty, rich foods. Giving these to your dogs is not a treat; it is
dangerous, even life-threatening. These typically include fatty
trimmings off the ham or roast, turkey skin, butter-coated potato
skins, bread dough, nuts and gravy.

Ned Kuehn, Chief of Internal Medicine Services of Michigan Veterinary
Specialists, says pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas, is a
serious disease and unfortunately common during the holidays. This
potentially life-threatening disorder can occur when pets overeat or
eat fatty foods.

Signs include vomiting, anorexia and an extremely painful abdomen.
Veterinary hospitalization is frequently required and often costly for
dogs with pancreatitis.

Gastroenteritis, or inflammation of the stomach and intestinal tract,
is even more common than pancreatitis. "The usual culprit is owners
feeding their pets table food items which irritate the gastrointestinal
tract," Kuehn said. Vomiting and diarrhea are the typical symptoms, and
veterinary attention may be required to treat the condition.

It's best to let Rover eat his regular food to avoid an unhappy, messy
and possibly tragic holiday.

Onions and raisins. Dana Farbman of the Animal Poison Control Center
warns holiday cooks about ordinary onions and those raisins sitting on
the counter poised to enter a holiday dessert. Onions, often found in
stuffing and other holiday dishes, can potentially destroy pets' red
blood cells and inhibit their blood's ability to coagulate.

Raisin ingestions have been associated with gastrointestinal upset and
acute renal failure in some dogs. Affected dogs may initially develop
vomiting and drink large amounts of water, then subsequently develop
diarrhea and potentially fatal kidney failure.

Yeast dough. Yeast-based dough can expand in the gastrointestinal tract
as it rises, causing an obstruction, and the yeast can produce alcohol
when it rises, possibly resulting in alcohol poisoning.
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