When you’re hosting holiday events at your home, food can fall on the floor and get gobbled up by four-legged family members. Furry friends can also snatch food from low tables or jump onto counters to eat what is available. Unfortunately, holiday fare can be toxic to cats and dogs. Here, review which foods your canines and felines can and cannot eat this holiday season to avoid emergency visits to the animal hospital.

A Guide to Holiday Foods & Pets

Safe Foods

Generally, keep holiday food out of reach from four-legged family members. If you can’t resist sharing with them, use small portions free of sauce, gravy, sugar, and other condiments. Think plain, bite-size bits of fully cooked turkey since raw bird can feature salmonella bacteria that make pets sick. Vegetables, such as green beans and carrots, also provide healthy holiday snacks for pets as long as they are free of butter, gravy, and other additives and seasonings that cause gastrointestinal problems or toxicity issues. If you’re feeding your pet carrots, opt for raw versions that double as natural teeth cleaners.

Unsafe Foods

Protect your pets from emergency animal hospital visits this holiday by familiarizing yourself with unsafe foods. Anything containing garlic, for example, can be lethal to dogs and cats since the vegetables destroy their red blood cells, resulting in anemia. Avoid fatty foods that inflame the pancreas and subsequently interfere with food enzyme breakdown to cause diarrhea and vomiting. Such foods include casseroles, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and anything else made with butter, heavy cream, sour cream, and other fatty ingredients.

Other foods to keep away from your pets include desserts containing chocolate, macadamia nuts, or artificial sweeteners. Chocolate is toxic to dogs and can cause lethal poisoning, while artificial sweeteners such as xylitol can also be deadly by causing liver failure if enough is ingested. Macadamia nuts can cause hind leg weakness and kidney failure in dogs. Anything made with raisins, such as fruitcake, can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, among other symptoms.

Avon Animal Hospital helps pets stay healthy during the holidays and the rest of the year. Serving residents across Livingston County, NY, since 1965, this clinic provides wellness exams, pet surgeries, and vaccinations to ensure furry family members feel their best. Call (585) 226-6144 to make an appointment or visit the animal hospital online to browse their services.