Earlier I mentioned how hard it was becoming for people in this country to provide for our pets given the current economic slow down. As a result of rising gas, food, and housing costs many pet owners have little choice but to find new ways of taking care of their furry friends in order to avoid abandoning them. This means that we may be inadvertently exposing our pets to foods they could be doing them harm in an attempt to make room in our budgets.

So what is good in terms of human food and what could end up poisoning your family pet? Alcohol, avocadoes, chocolate, candy, anything containing caffeine, raisins, grapes (which are practically candy due to the high amounts of sugar they contain), onions, and nuts are all foods you should leave on your plate and avoid passing on to your four legged friends. Some of these are just common sense of course. I mean I talked about this last week as well, but alcohol and pets simply don’t mix. Things like avocadoes, raisins, nuts, and grapes though may be considered health food for people, but could lead to some serious health conditions such as kidney failure, heart damage, lung tissue depletion, and could lead to paralysis in some pets.

The good news is that not everything at the dinner table is bad for your pet. Breads, lean meats (remember to remove the bones), apples, oranges, bananas, potatoes (not fried obviously, but baked is good!), pasta, rice, carrots, and even cucumber/zucchini are all things that not only can be passed off the table, but may help your pets health.

Remember that if it is getting to the point where you need to start cutting costs and find alternate food sources for your pet, at least keep the number for the ASPCA with you at all times (888-426-4435) just in case your pet starts to show signs of getting sick.