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Veterinarians: Sharing Thanksgiving Food To Dogs Can Bring Special Dangers

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Turkey with all the trimmings -- it's a favorite for many people, but there are renewed warnings out about the potential dangers for animals. Keeping Thanksgiving safe for your important and sometimes tricky.

Most dog owners know about the begging that happens around mealtime -- that other set of eyes trained on the table. While sharing food might seem like something nice, veterinarians say Thanksgiving can bring special dangers for dogs.

It's so tempting to share some of the Thanksgiving feast with your pets.

"People want to be nice and try to be nice, but they end up actually causing more problems for their pet," veterinarian Steve Holowinski said. "They can get very, very sick sometimes with the very rich foods over the holidays."

Whether it's from people sharing food or pets getting into things they shouldn't, vets say the holiday season is busy.

"I'd say we see about a 50% increase," Holowinski said.

With Thanksgiving, some foods are more dangerous to dogs than others while plain turkey might be OK, seasonings -- especially onions and garlic -- are toxic.

"Really, the big ones are the turkey bones and such," Holwinski said. "A lot of the sweets and things like that, we have to be careful."

Chocolate specifically is dangerous for dogs. Also keep them away from fatty foods like gravy, butter and drippings, raisins and grapes and nuts with macadamia being the most toxic.

Even a small amount of these items can cause a life-threatening condition in pets known as pancreatitis.

"Especially the vomiting. If they're not keeping anything down, then they should be seen," Holowinski said.

Even if human food doesn't make them sick, it can be fattening, which is another doggie danger.

"Consequently, we see things with being overweight -- diabetes," Holowinski said. "Problems with joints and such from becoming arthritic because now a dog that's supposed to weigh 40 pounds now weighs 60 pounds."

Vets remind people all the time that pets should get pet food -- not people food. But if you must share Thanksgiving, plain turkey and maybe a few green beans are OK but nothing with sauce.

You can find more information about a 24/7 animal poison control center by calling 855-764-7661 or clicking here.

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