NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Jon Austin, DVM with Hutchinson Small Animal Hospital reminds pet owners to be careful to keep their pets safe during Thanksgiving celebrations.
"You see incidences of issues with pets that are getting food that they shouldn't, getting into things in the guest rooms that they shouldn't, medicine, things in purses," Austin said. "Always, just a word of thought for people, either confine your animals, maybe in the master bedroom where they're safe, where you can have a controlled environment in your home. If you let the pet be loose, then you need to talk to your guests about putting things up."
Not every guest is going to be used to having an animal around.
"They may not all be pet people that as odd as that might seem to us, because we're wired that way where we really enjoy animals," Austin said. "There are people who don't, or there are people who have allergies or there are people who are afraid. So again, you know, communication, communication with your, with your guests, communication with, with the other members of the household, you know, it might be best, like I said, just to confine your pet back in the master bedroom, you know, move their food and water, their bed back there, keep them back there where they're safe and in a controlled environment. You know that way you don't have to experience any of these issues. If you're just having a quick get together with, you know, people, and like you said, hosting, then your pet's inconvenience for a few hours and it stays safe. It's just a small sacrifice to avoid a huge issue."
If your pet gets into people food, it can cost a lot of time and money.
"Eating the pie, eating the turkey, pulling the turkey carcass off of the cutting board," Austin said. "When you're around the corner at the table, so they'll sure do it, and those things aren't good for them. You know, you can get anything from just a gastritis to diarrhea, vomiting. You can have something serious like pancreatitis or foreign body. You know, the, the, the poultry bones are not good. They're soft and they flex and they can really become a obstructive foreign body. Then you end up having to have, instead of enjoying your Thanksgiving meal, having a nap, you end up taking your dog for GI tract surgery."
Such surgeries can cost several thousand dollars, depending on how extensive the surgery has to be.