‘Tis the season for friends, family and holiday feasts—but also for possible distress for our animal companions. Here are some tips to help your pet have a safe and enjoyable holiday.

Talkin’ Turkey: If you decide to feed your pet a little nibble of turkey, make sure it’s boneless and well-cooked. Don't offer any raw or undercooked turkey, which may contain salmonella bacteria.

 Sage Advice: Sage can make your Thanksgiving stuffing taste great, but it and many other herbs contain essential oils and resins that can cause gastrointestinal upset and central nervous system depression to pets if eaten in large quantities. Cats are especially sensitive to the effects of certain essential oils.

 No Bread Dough: Don't spoil your pet’s holiday by giving him raw bread dough. When raw bread dough is ingested, an animal's body heat causes the dough to rise in his stomach. As it expands, the pet may experience vomiting, severe abdominal pain and bloating, which could become a life-threatening emergency, requiring surgery.

 Don't Let Them Eat Cake: If you’re baking up Thanksgiving cakes, be sure your pets keep their noses out of the batter, especially if it includes raw eggs—they could contain salmonella bacteria that may lead to food poisoning.

 Avoiding Alcohol: Pets are far more sensitive to ethanol alcohol than humans are. Even ingesting a small amount of a product containing alcohol can cause significant intoxication. Alcohol intoxication commonly causes vomiting, loss of coordination, disorientation and stupor. In severe cases, coma, seizures and death may occur. Pets showing mild signs of alcohol intoxication should be closely monitored, and those who are so inebriated that they can’t stand up should be monitored by a veterinarian until they recover.

Toxic Fruits and Veggies: Certain foods used commonly in holiday cooking can be toxic to pets.  Onions, garlic, chocolate, grapes and raisins are among the most common toxic foods found in the kitchen this time of year.  These foods can cause gastrointestinal upset in small doses, but high doses can cause serious health problems.  Onions and garlic, especially in concentrated forms, causes damage to red-blood cells.  Grapes and raisins can cause irreversible kidney damage.  Chocolate, especially baker's chocolate, can cause restlessness, irregular heart rythm and seizures.

 Too Much of a Good Thing: A few small boneless pieces of cooked turkey, a taste of mashed potato or even a lick of pumpkin pie shouldn’t pose a problem. However, don't allow your pets to overindulge, as they could wind up with a case of stomach upset, diarrhea or even worse—an inflammatory condition of the pancreas known as pancreatitis. In fact, it is best keep pets on their regular diets during the holidays.

 A Feast Fit for a Kong: While the humans are chowing down, give your cat and dog their own little feast. Offer them rawhide strips, Nylabones or made-for-pet chew bones. Or stuff their usual dinner—perhaps with a few added tidbits of turkey, vegetables (try sweet potato or green beans) and dribbles of gravy—inside a Kong toy. They’ll be happily occupied for awhile, working hard to extract their dinner from the toy.