Pete Wedderburn: Don t go to extremes
Credit: Patrick Bolger
Dear Pete,
Is it OK to feed turkey to my dog? I have been hearing mixed opinions, with some people saying that Christmas dinners often cause gastric upsets and pancreatitis? I want to spoil Bobo, my three year old Cavipoo, but I obviously don’t want to cause him any problems.
RW, Devon
Dear RW,
Digestive upsets caused by overindulgence are probably the most common reason for veterinary emergency call outs over Christmas.
However, there’s nothing inherently wrong with turkey: it’s more that people often go to extremes, feeding large platefuls of dinner leftovers to pets who aren’t used to such rich food. Also, high fat foods (such as turkey skin) can provoke pancreatitis.