10 Thanksgiving Foods That Are Bad For Your Dog

10 thanksgiving foods that are bad for your dog

Thanksgiving Foods You Should Never Give Your Dog

What are 10 Thanksgiving foods that are bad for you dog? Good question. The holidays are right around the corner and that means lots of cooking and lots of delicious food. From pumpkin pie to sweet potatoes to turkey and stuffing, dinner tables will be packed to the edges with mouth-watering food.

Without a doubt, pets, especially dogs, will be looking around for table scraps, fallen food, and make attempts to steal food from unsupervised plates. Antics like these can be funny to watch, but in reality, certain Thanksgiving foods are toxic to dogs and cats.

Any plate should be set in a high place so that dogs can’t reach it. Floors should be kept clean of food droppings and absolutely under no circumstances should anyone give dogs and cats table scraps.
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Sadly, many pet parents don’t understand the dangers and unwittingly put their pets at risk when they give in to the puppy dog eyes and pawing from their four-legged best friends. Below is a list of foods to avoid giving your pets during the holidays.

10 thanksgiving foods that are bad for your dog

10 Foods You Should Keep Away From Your Dog During Thanksgiving

While some pet parents may feel that certain Thanksgiving foods are safe for dogs, that is not the case. Dogs should not eat human food at all. No matter how tempting it is to feed Fido a dab of mashed potatoes or some turkey, it is safer to give them a dog treat instead. Below are 10 Thanksgiving foods your dog needs to avoid.

10. Fat Trimmings

It may seem harmless to give your dog a few pieces of fat trimmings but that’s a big no-no. Even if you don’t want to waste food, fat trimmings do not make a good snack for your dog. Excess fats can cause problems such as pancreatitis and obesity.

9. Alcohol

Under no circumstances should you give your dog alcohol. Even if they lap it up like water, it is very bad for them. Canines respond to alcohol the same way humans do. They may get drunk, but they can also experience symptoms that are much worse including decreased coordination, vomiting, diarrhea, difficulty breathing, tremors, coma, and in some cases, even death.

8 Beverages

Under no circumstances should you give your dog soda or other beverages. There are not nutritional values for giving dogs a soda. Additionally, soda includes ingredients that are unhealthy for dogs.

7 Salads (Grapes, Raisins, Macadamia Nuts)

While salads seem healthy, they’re actually not. Many salads are served at Thanksgiving include grapes or raisins as an ingredient. Grapes and raisins can cause severe health issues including kidney failure.

Macadamia Nuts are extremely toxic to dogs. Even a small amount will cause severe issues including weakness in their back legs, vomiting, and diarrhea. Keep all salads, including fruit salad, away from your dog.

6 Mashed Potatoes

While a plain baked or mashed potato is safe for dogs,  seasoned mashed potatoes are not. The reason is that mashed potatoes have several ingredients in them that are unsafe for dogs. Milk, cream, and other lactose ingredients will cause a dog to have diarrhea.

Additionally, spiced-up mashed potatoes with salt, garlic, onions, or chives are very bad for dogs as these ingredients are toxic to dogs.

10 thanksgiving foods that are bad for your dog

5 Stuffing

As delicious as stuffing is for humans, it can be very dangerous for dogs. The ingredients in stuffing include several foods that are toxic to dogs. From onions, garlic, salt to bread crumbs, it is a big no-no for dogs.

4 Ham

A juicy slice of honey ham is perfect for humans on Thanksgiving, but it’s very bad for a dog. In general, pork should be kept away from pets. Not only is pork rich in fat, but eating raw or uncooked pork can be deadly.

Raw or undercooked pork carries the parasite trichinella spiralis larvae. This deadly parasite causes an infection known as trichinosis. It will cause a stomach upset, vomiting, and worse.

10 thanksgiving foods that are bad for your dog

3 Desserts

While desserts are absolutely wonderful during Thanksgiving, they should be kept away from dogs. From pumpkin pie to chocolate cake, do not feed dogs human desserts.

2 Yeast Dough

Raw yeast dough is bad for dogs. If your four-legged best friend accidentally ingests the dough, it could cause problems in the dog’s GI tract. Raw yeast dough will rise and expand in the GI tract causing gas in the dog. That can be very uncomfortable and lead to other issues.

1 Turkey Bones

You’ve probably heard the warning about keeping your dog and cats away from chicken bones. The same is true for turkey bones. While plain boiled turkey meat is perfectly fine to give your dog, turkey bones should not be given to your dog. Just like chicken bones, turkey bones can get lodged in their throat causing issues.

10 thanksgiving foods that are bad for your dog

What Can Dogs Have On Thanksgiving?

If you can’t resist the temptation and give into feeding your dog some Thanksgiving dinner. Keep in mind that everything you give Fido should be given in moderation. Below is a list of foods your dog can have for Thanksgiving.

  • Plain bread
  • Celery and carrots
  • plain turkey meat
  • sweet potatoes (plain)
  • plain turkey meat
  • cooked ham (very small cube)

Final Thoughts

While we want to celebrate the holidays with our four-legged family members, always keep in mind that they are animals with different systems than our own. If you are unsure about certain foods to feed your pup, always check with your vet. Nothing is worse than giving your dog some table scraps only to have your dog become ill from it.
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