Do not feed table scraps from your Mid-Autumn Festival feast to your pets, the New Taipei City Animal Protection and Quarantine Office warned yesterday.
This year’s holiday, to be celebrated on Tuesday, customarily involves barbecuing, drinking beer and watching the full moon with family members and friends.
Though cats and dogs might beg to take part in the feast, barbecued food is usually too rich for their blood, office director Yang Shu-fang (楊淑方) said.
Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Animal Protection and Health Inspection Office
Foods such as marinated or smoked meats and barbecue sauces are too salty and fatty for the canine and feline kidney, which could lead to kidney problems, she said.
Pomeloes, a seasonal fruit and frequently enjoyed during the festival, could cause severe digestive reactions in cats and dogs, such as vomiting and diarrhea, she said.
Cats are especially sensitive to the olfactory chemicals in pomeloes and could become sickend by it through touch, while accidental ingestion might cause acute and potentially fatal liver damage, she said.
Although photographs of pomelo peels on the heads of cats or dogs are popular on the Internet, Yang said that people should not do this.
Grapes are another autumn fruit that could result in adverse digestive reactions in pets, she said, adding that owners should keep them away from cats and dogs.
Scallions, leeks and garlic are sulfide-containing herbs that are frequently utilized in food preparation, but can destroy the red blood cells of cats and dogs, she said.
Ingestion of the substance could lead to bloody urine, vomiting, diarrhea and fever, any of which could last for days and could result in death, she said.
Huang Ting-hsuan (黃亭瑄), a veterinarian at a municipal animal shelter in Banciao District (板橋), said that although appropriate amounts of fruits and vegetables are good for pet health, too much could result in digestive blockage.
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