Dog owners: don't overdo it feeding your dogs turkey

My vet told me that he is always besieged, the day after Thanksgiving, with dogs who have gotten sick by eating too much turkey. This is especially true if your dog isn't used to table food. I do share with my dogs, since they are already all excited by the smell, but only a little, and mostly white meat, since it's lower in fat, and I never give them skin, since it's way too greasy. I am always tempted, since my dogs can be quite persistent, but keep my vet's warning in mind. My vet reminded me of this, so I hope I didn't offend anybody by posting a reminder.

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow animal lovers and their furry/feathered/scaled companions!:hi:

Our big guy has trouble with a lot of our table food. It took us a while to figure it out because he's OK that night but a bit wobbly the next morning. So we had to harden our hearts and ignore his protestations of true loyalty. I tried to buy him off with a couple of scraps later.

He's a good dog, and it was sad that circumstances wouldn't let him deal with the Thanksgiving concept to the, uh, fullest. (Rainy and windy, too, and he didn't get his walk quota either.)

My vet mentioned this to me, in the most general terms, about the sick dogs that are brought in, immediately after Thanksgiving, but he has to know by now that I'm a soft touch for my dogs. They both had some turkey, and will again, but I'm careful to give them just a little at one time or I'd be in trouble. Turkey is harder for them to digest than chicken, I've been told. I am fortunate that the animal hospital where I regularly bring my dogs has a pile of handouts on the particular dangers that pets face during each holiday. :scared:

I understand what you're facing with your guy! My little Sara would eat the whole thing, given half a chance! But, if hardening your heart protects them from getting sick, (and my Sara has allergies, so I know what you've had to deal with) I just have to do it. *sigh* But I certainly know how difficult it is to say no to the big brown eyes and, with Sara, constantly poking me with her paw, LOL!:-)

handle turkey. For some reason everytime she eats it she gets a really sour stomach. While she was sick I cut down on all food till what ever this was passed. She felt much better after she got it out of her system. A year or so ago I noticed this but never really linked it to turkey..Well this time I gave it to her on two seperate occasions and she got sick both times. She is little and on no occasion did she really eat much turkey, I think it is either turkey in general or she's in particular is allergic. Either way..it's off her dietary list.

Sara could have eaten the whole thing, LOL, and gotten totally sick. She is already on meds for poop problems, which my vet says may be a reaction to her previous meds, for an ear infection. It never ends.:shrug:

I tend to go very light on the turkey because, according to my vet, it's much harder for them to digest than chicken. When both dogs had colitis, he put them on a bland diet, having me cook chicken and rice for them, which was labor intensive, since my little guy's so small, LOL! I guess that turkey's too rich, while chicken is okay.:-(

One of my dogs has food allergies, so eats kibbled venison and potato. The other eats Eukanuba low fat.

I rarely give them people food ... they don't need the calories, and it turns them into beggars. I love dogs, but hate it when they beg. I'd just as soon my dogs never, ever learn to associate my food with themselves.

I do occasionally let them have a few kernels of popped corn when I'm having some ... but only after they perform!

Oh, anything that gets dropped by accident is fair game. I have really warned the kids about purposely dropping chocolate and such.

I didn't even realize people gave dogs turkey.

Yes, chocolate can be really toxic, a terrible thing for a dog! I spent the day after Christmas, Christmas before last, on the phone with the ASPCA poison control center because I came home and discovered that my mother had left a gift basket under the tree and my cocker spaniel had consumed an entire chocolate bar! I called the Emergency Clinic, and they gave me the number for ASPCA poison control, since they didn't want to take any chances. They were just wonderful there, since they know the properties of each and every chocolate bar that any dog might ingest, so I had to call the friend who'd given my mother this basket to find out exactly what it was, since she was totally clueless. They would have had me bring her to the Emergency Clinic and induced vomiting, but my dog was prone to seizures, so I had to stay up for most of the night, to keep an eye on her. She was okay, but it was a total nightmare! BTW, it cost me $40, but I thought it was well worth it. If you ever need them, the number is 1-800-548-2423 or 1-888-426-4435.:scared: