The busiest time of year for vet emergencies

In the U.S., the day after the Thanksgiving holiday is one of the busiest days of the year for emergency vet visits due to pancreatitis.

Pancreatitis: the inflammation of the pancreas, an organ that plays a critical role in digestion and blood sugar regulation.

Many Americans may want their dogs to enjoy Thanksgiving, too.

But when dogs consume way too much sugar, carbohydrates, irritant foods, and artificial sugars at one time, their organs rebel.

Don’t let your dog become a statistic!

Instead, prepare yourself with this guide on what not to feed your dog during the holidays.

The following list of foods typically found at the Thanksgiving feast should NOT be fed to your dog.

Foods you should NOT feed your dog at Thanksgiving

1. Mashed potatoes
   This is a starchy vegetable that turns to glucose inside the small intestine. This type of food spikes insulin levels, causing the blood glucose levels to drop, leading to a “sugar crash.” Also, milk, cream, and/or butter are often mixed into mashed potatoes. Many dogs are lactose intolerant. (Some sources report as many as 50% of adult dogs are.) That is why puppies are fed goat’s milk, instead of cow’s milk when breeders need to supplement mother’s milk. Butter, cream, and whole milk are great saturated fats for most humans, but not for dogs.
2. Candied Yams
   Candied yams are made with dark brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, and some add a marshmallow topping. Plain cooked yams are generally fine by themselves, if you want to put a few aside for your dog, but the high sugar, spice, and butter content are not at all good for your dog’s digestion.
3. Green Bean Casserole
   While dogs can consume green beans on their own, the cream, butter, garlic, and onions in the mushroom soup are no good for dogs. If you top it with fried onion rings, that’s more onions and a bunch of highly processed wheat flour. With all of that, you’ve really added to the gastrointestinal issues for your dog.
4. Stuffing
   Stuffing is often made up of bread, onions, garlic, and butter, all of which have negative effects on dogs. Bread is another food that spikes insulin levels, only adding to the likely “sugar crash” along with the mashed potatoes. Onions are toxic to dogs. Garlic can be toxic to dogs when fed in large quantities, although small amounts likely have beneficial properties.  And the butter adds to the lactose issues in most dogs.
5. Gravy
   If you make your gravy from scratch with added flour or cornstarch as a thickener, then gravy is not for your dog. If you make your gravy from a package with lots of added things like MSG, artificial sweeteners, chemicals, dyes, or preservatives, then gravy is not for your dog. Stick to giving your dog turkey juice, not gravy.
6. Pumpkin or Sweet Potato Pie
   Pumpkin and sweet potatoes are fine for dogs on their own, but when you add the sugar, cream, butter, and white crust, a dog’s gut can erupt into a painfully bloated problem.
7. Whipped Cream
   This is a common treat at coffee places, like Starbucks, and lots of dogs love it, but many premade whipped creams have loads of sugar or artificial sweeteners. Also, as stated above, many dogs are lactose intolerant. You want to be very careful when giving dogs this treat, especially in large quantities. A small lick on a spoon may be fine, but not a large bowlful.

What foods can you feed your dog at Thanksgiving?

1. Honey Ham
   While honey is also a food that can spike insulin, there are also many beneficial qualities to honey, including: antioxidant properties, improved beneficial gut bacteria, and soothes digestion. Honey should not be fed to dogs in large or frequent quantities, but the glaze on a piece of ham fed in moderation would be okay to share with your dog. Or you can take the glaze portion off and simply feed your dog the cooked ham.
2. Turkey/Duck/Chicken or other Fowl
   Turkey (etc.) without the bone is very healthy for dogs. Dogs can eat the skin, as well. The delicious juice can be placed on a dog’s kibble to enhance its flavor, too. You do not want to feed dogs the cooked bones, though, because cooked bird bones are brittle and break into shards which can damage a dog’s esophagus when swallowing. Otherwise, this is a great part of Thanksgiving for dogs.
3. Deviled Eggs
   Eggs, in general, are a good source of protein for dogs. Especially if you use mayonnaise made with olive oil, deviled eggs are a fun treat for dogs at Thanksgiving. The chopped dill pickles that some people add to deviled eggs are okay to give dogs in moderation. Avoid using sweet pickles, though. Mustard is not toxic to dogs, especially in the amounts added to deviled eggs. Paprika is not toxic to dogs in small quantities.
4. Collard Greens or Spinach
   In moderation, your dog can partake in these leafy greens. They are high in vitamin K, fiber, and iron.You want to feed them to your dog fully cooked to reduce the calcium oxalate content. Remember to give them to your dog without butter, for the reasons above.
5. Pumpkin
   Your dog can eat raw or cooked pumpkin without adding other ingredients, so if you’ve made your pumpkin pie from scratch with real pumpkin, your dog can enjoy a bit of this fun taste, as well.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our

Dire Wolf Project Inner Circle members!

May you have safe travels and enjoy a wonderful day with family and friends.

Even if you live outside of the United States, every day is a good time to remember to thank God for all of the abundance in your life.

The DireWolf Express is scheduled to leave this Monday, December 2nd!

If you want to receive your puppy for Christmas, now’s the time to get on board.

This Saturday evening will be too late.

We close any further DireWolf Express tickets for this upcoming trip at Saturday, November 30, 2024 at 9pm EST.

Here is the link to our puppies for sale page to see what’s still available:

https://direwolfdogs.com/dogs-for-sale/puppies

Jennifer Stoeckl is the co-founder of the Dire Wolf Project, founder of the DireWolf Guardians American Dirus Dog Training Program, and owner/operator of DireWolf Dogs of Vallecito. She lives in the beautiful inland northwest among the Ponderosa pine forests with her pack of American Dirus dogs.