This article will reveal you some very important facts about turkey – an indispensable food in every Thanksgiving party. And you can imagine how a cooked, delicious, aromatic turkey can attract your dog in these days! However, there are some concerns amongst dog’s owners: Is turkey bad for dogs? Which parts of the turkey are safe and which ones must be avoided? Let us help you clarify these questions!
Is Turkey Bad for Dogs?
Dogs absolutely can eat turkeys, but it depends on what parts of the turkey they are eating. In fact, turkey is considered as a nutritious food for dogs if being eaten properly.
In terms of the nutritional value, both dark meat and white meat contain a huge amount of nutrition, especially dark meat, which is full of vitamins and minerals. If your dog is a “rack of bones”, turkey should be your good choice to help him gain weight. Of course, don’t forget to feed him at certain level to avoid any malfunction situation.
What’re Parts of Turkey Are NOT Safe for Dogs?
Turkey’s Skin
Turkey’s skin contains too much fatty substance, which makes it difficult for dogs to digest and partly has bad effect on the dog’s pancreatitis.
By contrast, lean turkey is recommended for dogs. If your dog is fed with a lean turkey, it will be great for him to enjoy the huge source of nutrients from the turkey meat.
Turkey’s Bones
“Be careful with Turkey’s born and only enjoy Turkey’s meat!” This is an advice that I got from my friend who is raising a seven-year-old dog and has several valuable experiences in taking care of dog as a veterinary surgeon during many years. Are seriously bones (such as marrow bones, pork chop bones, harm bones, etc.) dangerous to dogs? That is also my question when I heard about this precaution about Turkey. Those following reasons will help you completely count on it.
In regards to bones’ harm to dogs, it should be separated into cooked bone and uncooked bone.
Frozen Turkey
Frozen turkey is pre-packed and sold widely in the supermarket, which is extremely convenient for us to buy and cook. However, you might not know how dangerous it is when being eaten by dogs. Similar to skin, frozen turkey contains much added salt and other addictive that can develop toxicity and lead dogs to the death.
Raw Turkey
Not just raw turkey, but most types of raw meat are definitely not recommended for dogs to eat. Otherwise, they might lead your dog to salmonella disease, which is a zoonotic bacteria transferable from animals to animals (including humans). The ultimate result might be even worse: violent sickness and abdominal pain.
What to Do If Your Dogs Swallow Turkey Bones?
However, it is quite difficult to avoid dogs from eating turkey’s bones because those bones are so attractive to them, not to mention that dogs tend to try to look for bones every time they see them. Even when you put bones in the trash bin or try to hide them, dogs can find them easily thanks to their super sense of smell. Also, they can be fed by somebody like your guests. That is a big problem!
One day, it comes across your mind that your dogs swallowed a turkey bone, please read and try to remember these following tips to deal with such catastrophic situation:
- Keep your eyes on your dog: Watch out if your dog appears some usual symptoms like lethargy, anorexia, anxiousness, heart arrhythmia or vomit. What you should do next is to call a vet to get help.
- Feed your dog soft food in first few days: Soft food such as cooked rice or bread can soften the bones.
- Do not try to induce them to vomit: It is advised that we should let dogs digest the bones rather than trying to make them expel bones through vomiting.
Note: If you plan to feed your dog turkey, additional foods can be added with turkey, except garlic and onions. Why?
As usual, on holiday celebrations or dinners, people always try to cook turkeys in various ways. It can be combined with vegetables or raw materials, which helps the meal more attractive and delicious. But as you may hear, the wrong combination of foods can lead to poisoning in dogs in some cases. And turkey is not an exception! Some studies demonstrated that onion and garlic paired with turkey could directly cause the death of a dog in case of the N-propyl disulfide toxicity.
Conclusion
So, is turkey bag for dogs? Yes! Lean turkey meat is completely safe and a healthy source of protein and various nutrients for dogs to eat. However, only plain meat which has been thoroughly cooked is recommended. Also note that meat with spices and additives can be harmful to dogs, especially when it is combined with garlic or onion.
Hopefully, our today’s article is useful. Leave your comment below if you have any questions to ask us. Thank you for reading!
