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Bentley & Friends: Toxic Foods

Here's a list of foods to steer clear of when it comes to feeding your pets.

It’s really hard to deny that sad puppy face when your dog is at the end of the table begging for some of that dinner food. We might give in from time to time. 

With that being said there are some foods to be aware of that are harmful to your dog or cat.

It’s good to keep in mind it's not always what we give them that may be bad but what they may get into when our backs are turned.

“Classic getting into the sugar-free gum in mom's purse, the xylitol is the active ingredient that causes that toxicity so it can be pretty bad, even for smaller dogs as much as one piece of gum," Dr. Cooke tells us.

Take precautions to dog-proof your things. Dr. Cooke says they always will seek it out, so it's good to remember their sense of smell is far greater than ours!

“Another Is alcohol, similarly they will seek that out,” Dr. Cooke says.

Your dog will then exhibit signs of being intoxicated which as you can imagine is not good, especially if they get into too much of it.

“Chocolate, most people know that with chocolate. We think of it that we are feeding it to them but often they’re surfing the counters and getting it, bakers chocolate is really bad," Dr. Cooke explained.

Watch out for dark chocolate around your pets as well the high caffeine content can lead to heart arrhythmias.

“Raw dough, raw yeast dough or even something like bread, when it's raw of course, it is still going to rise and that’s where we worry about the old Bobby Brady syndrome and getting exposed that way,” Dr. Cooke remarked.

Raisins and grapes are also very toxic to our animals, Dr. Cooke says that they’re still not sure exactly sure of the toxic principle but just one grape can cause renal failure in small dogs.

As we’re getting closer to Halloween, there will be lots of candy around, so make sure it's out of reach of the pups!

Speaking of holidays, how about poinsettias? We’ve heard they’re toxic to pets.

“They have to eat a lot of it, so when we say it's 'toxic' it is rare that they ever experience that toxicity because they have to eat the whole plant,” Dr. Cooke told us.

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