What's for Dinner? Will People Food Harm My Cats & Dogs?

The news of the tainted pet food causing illness and even death in many people's beloved pets scared me to the point that I wanted to feed them the same things I was eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

As I opening the refrigerator and cupboard door I was worried that switching their diet could also make them sick. What is safe for pets and what is not?

I have 2 Shih Tzu's that are fussy eaters. My youngest Dudley is 7 years old and he has epilepsy which causes him to have seizures. Two Christmas's ago his pancreatitis was inflamed and he became very ill. We almost lost him. I had to place him on a low fat diet. He was allowed to eat people food such as rice, bread, plain pasta, first year baby food and no-fat gravies. So I know those foods are blain and can not hurt his stomach. I switched him over to a dry weight control dog food, so he would also be getting his nutrients. When I first brought Dudley home from the hospital he would not eat anything. Then one day I came into the room and he had jumped up on my chair in the office and onto my desk where he consumed a box of milk chocolate and peanut butter. His appetite was back. I was overcome with fear as I found piles of thrown up chocolate in the room. I ran to the phone and called the vet. The vet told me that for one, peanut butter is not harmful to dogs. He also told me that dark chocolate is a more toxic fear for animals and that he believed Dudley would be just fine.

Dusty, my 9 year old Shih Tzu is healthy and doing well, he is not fond of this new diet plan. I also placed him on the same type of diet so I didn't have to worry about Dudley stealing his fatty foods.

A lonely, skinny, and sad cat wondered up on my porch and started making it his home as he would scarf through my trash at night. So I took Scarf in and she now has a healthy diet.

But when they smell the kitchen oven baking their father's dinner, they are all interested in doing a little test tasting. With this in mind and the dog food scare I decided to do a little research.