Do's and don'ts for feeding your pets scraps and leftovers from your Thanksgiving meal

DENVER – You probably won’t be the only ones looking to enjoy a tasty Thanksgiving meal Thursday, but if you think about sharing with your four-legged friends, be sure it’s something safe for them to eat.

We’ll start with what your pets can eat, since that will most likely make your furry friends happy, and make you happy that they stop bugging you.

• Since most people will be eating turkey, you should know that regular white meat can be OK for pets. But avoid giving them fattier dark meat, and be sure there are no bones, skin or leftover twine attached to it; all are choking hazards.
• Potatoes and yams/sweet potatoes are also OK for your pets, but only give them the ones that haven’t been cooked in butter or with garlic, onions or leeks. A water-steamed or boiled potato is just fine.
• Cranberry sauce is also OK for pets to eat, but be sure it’s low in sugars and doesn’t contain artificial sweetener Xylitol or high-fructose corn syrup – all of which can be harmful to your pets.
• Any regular vegetables not cooked in aromatics or with butter are mostly good for your pets. Green beans are especially nutritious.

Unfortunately for your pets, the list of things they shouldn’t be eating is much longer. But pay attention – some Turkey Day foods can be extremely hazardous to their health.

• The first thing that should be mentioned is pets should not be eating garlic, onions, leeks or scallions. Though onions and garlic are key ingredients in many Thanksgiving dishes, they are part of the Allium family that are poisonous to dogs and cats. Don’t feed your pets anything with these ingredients in it.
• Be careful when feeding your pets any meat: small bones and skin can get lodged in their throats or rupture their insides and are difficult to digest.
• Though you might have an alcoholic beverage or two while watching football and eating dinner, keep it out of reach of your pets. Alcohol obviously shouldn’t be ingested by pets.
• Also avoid feeding them anything with grapes or raisins inside, such as stuffing. Both can be extremely poisonous to dogs and can lead to kidney failure. Similar problems can be found in cats that eat grapes or raisins.
• And when it comes to desert, be sure your pets don’t get ahold of any chocolate dishes. Though it’s a tasty treat for humans, chocolate can be poisonous to animals.

So enjoy your dinners, everyone! Just be sure your pets are sneaking some dangerous treats from the table. Happy Thanksgiving!