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Myth #1- "Never give pets people food!"

When it comes to pizza, Kung Pao chicken and onion rings, it's true; you shouldn't be sharing high-fat, spicy or potentially toxic foods with your pet.

But cantaloupe, crunchy raw or lightly steamed vegetables, and meat with fat and gristle trimmed off are favorites of many animals and shouldn't be off limits. For instance, baby carrots, apples and popcorn are excellent low-calorie treats for dogs.

And as long as you're using high-quality ingredients and a good recipe that meets a pet's nutritional needs, "people food" is perfectly healthy as a regular meal for your dog or cat.

Vets say that the biggest concern with feeding pets ‘people food' is that most people feed too much and create an unbalanced or incomplete diet. It should only account for about 10% of their total calorie intake. Ppppplease!

Of course, there are some foods you should never feed your pets:

Chocolate
Onions
Grapes
Raisins.
Yeast dough
Alcohol
Tobacco
Marijuana
Moldy or spoiled food
Wild mushrooms
Large amounts of raw fish
Potato, rhubarb or tomato leaves
Large amounts of raw liver
Large numbers of macadamia nuts
Fruit pits
Corn cobs
Avocados

But feeding a dog or cat from the table? That's definitely a no-no, experts agree. It takes only one time to create an obnoxious beggar. Trust me, I have two of them at home :-)

paws paws paws

For more information please contact Lara O'Keefe at 972.838.9156 or visit Hunter's Creek.

Posted by Lara O'Keefe (Hunter's Creek, Melissa) on 03/26/2009 05:36 PM

Comments (10)

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10 Comments on Myth #1- "Never give pets people food!"

MAR

Hi Lara, the big one I have always heard about was chocolate. Good for us, VERY BAD for dogs. People need to know these things. Thanks so much for everything more on your list.

I'm a mother of three wonderful furry creatures myself and I can testify to a few no-no's. Popcorn made both my adult dogs throw up, we never gave it to the baby. Turkey and Pork makes them sick as well. Feed them beans and they will do the same thing your husband does..all night and all day long. whewwww. I feed my dogs Diamond Dog Food, which scored 101% on the 'rate your dog food test'. I can email it to you..it's a word doc.

In addition, every other night they get cut up chicken in their dry food. I purchase ready made Rotissere chickens and use 1/4 of it per feeding. So it usually lasts a week or so. They love it and feel they are getting a real treat. Dog treats are baby carrots and they love them.

Thanks for the doggie posts and cute pics!

Add avocados to the list of no-no's as well. Don't know why, though. My husband likes to make Belgian waffles on Saturdays and decided to give a "not so pretty" waffle to the dog. She quickly threw that up and then, I hope you're not eating right now, she ate that (as dogs are prone to do for some reason). So, we will make sure not to feed her waffles in the future. Sorry about the gross factor there.

My pound pup has a carrot every night after her dinner. It's such a habit, if I forget she scratches the front the of refrigerator and barks. She also get vegetables and rice with her dry food! Love your pix!

Thank yuou for posting this alert for the food you should never give your dog. I knew about the chocolate, onions, grapes and raisins but not about the others. My Buddy loves spagetti and noodles I give him only a few strands one at a time.

BTW, I love the picture of you pet, how did you get your dog not to snatch that piece of cake he is eyeing? That is a great "LEAVE IT"

Lara, whats an obnoxious beggar? Oh thats what I have here at home. Dogs are actually omnivores so you can add substantial amounts of vegetables to their diet. I didn't know dogs couldnt do pot :-)

Hi Lara, Glad I didn't find blueberry muffin or egg yellow on the list since those are two of my pumpkin's favorites. Love the photo!

Liz

MAR

Gary - I agree that chocolate is the biggest no no!

Kimberly - that's funny about the beans ... ew. We add chicken to our dogs food too.

Heather - I added avocados. Yes, the eating their own throw up is not an endearing trait.

Laura - my cousin trains dogs and he adds veggies and rice to his dogs diet too.

Kathleen Ann - no way my dogs are that well trained to pose like that :-)

Terry - too funny. I've seen a couple of dogs that would steal their masters cocktails and stumble around drunk. It's the same one that stole raw bread off the counter and blew up like a balloon!

Elizabeth - eggs are supposed to be good for a shiny coat.

Lara - thanks for sharing - I knew about grapes, raisins and chocolate that can cause illness with animals. Cute picture!

Sharon - thank you! Thanks my baby Baxter :-)

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