| Is it okay to feed my pet table scraps? |
| Unless the pet you are asking about is a large domesticated bird, like an African Gray Parrot or a Macaw, then the answer is, "No, it is not recommended that you feed your dog or cat human food." In fact, feeding your dog or cat table food can be deadly. The risks of feeding a pet table scraps are: (1) Human food is designed for human nutritional needs. Pet foods are specifically formulated to provide puppies, kittens, dogs, and cats with the nutritional demands of their particular species. Cats, for instance, cannot survive on a diet of tuna fish alone. (2) Diarrhea! Human foods are typically spiced to suit human tastes. We usually shun bland foods. Pepper and other spices can irritate a canine or feline pet's digestive tract, resulting in a condition called colitis. A pet with mild colitis may suffer a short bout of diarrhea and/or vomiting along with inappetance. The worst that happens is your carpet or furniture are soiled. Frequently, however, the irritation has a cumulative effect on your pet's health: the upset stomach results in diarrhea and dehydration. The pet loses interest in food and water and the colon becomes so inflamed that blood can be seen in the stool. DEHYDRATION is the major danger here and requires veterinary intervention to reverse the process. Simply offering a dehydrated pet a bowl of water will not work. Rehydration requires some form of fluid therapy, be it intravenous of subcutaneous. (3) Obesity. Our pets have their own food and water bowls. They have their own feeding time. They have minimum daily requirements as well as levels of maximum recommended intake of a variety of nutritional substances. Human food ruins the routine and leave your pet's diet unbalanced. Once you have begun feeding your dog or cat from the table, or even saving scraps for after the meal, breaking a pet of his or her begging habits is very difficult, both for the loving owner and the over-dramatic pet! What difference does it make if your pet is overweight? For many breeds of dogs -- laboradors, beagles, and dachshunds, for example -- carrying extra weight is a strain on the musculo-skeletal system. Back and hip injuries are more common in obese dogs, and less easily treated. Overweight cats and dogs are also more susceptible to diabetes and heart disease. (4) Choking hazards posed by human foods. Chicken bones are notorious for splintering and causing choking problems for pets. Other types of human food are equally as dangerous. Pet kibble is designed for your dog or cat's teeth, mouth and digestive system. Even cut up, pork chops, steak scraps and french fries are not tailored to your pet's eating abilities. And, unlike many emergencies, choking cases are not readily treatable by veterinary hospitals. Indian Hills keeps an assistant and a veterinarian on call 24 hours a day for all types of emergencies our clients may face; however, choking incidents resolve themselves in a matter of minutes, too a short a period for a vet to intervene. (5) Pancreatitis. This is perhaps the most important of the reasons not to feed your pet human food: the fat content tends to be so high that your animal runs the risk of developing pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas. This is a potentially lethal condition and not easily treatable. Digestive enzymes produced in the pancreas in an inactive state are activated prematurely and begin to digest the pancreatic organ itself. Unlike conditions such as obesity and choking (which you can observe), your pet could be sick with pancreatitis without your knowing. The symptoms, when they manifest, mimic other, often less threatening digestive disorders. The worst foods -- those most like to cause pancreatic problems -- are cheeses and pork products. If your dog were to eat a whole bowl of Rotel cheese dip, for instance, it is guaranteed to develop pancreatitis. A pet's digestive system, while perhaps geared towards eating rodents and feathers and such as we could never digest, is not suited to processing the high volumes of fat which we humans can deal with. Would your beagle puppy love a bowl of cheese dip? You bet. Could it kill him? Unfortunately, the answer is yes. |
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| The reasons it is NOT SAFE to feed table scraps: |