Freeze-dried salmon on Thanksgiving, for the pets

Give your dog its own salmon treats for Thanksgiving, snapped into small rewards or crumbled over its regular meal. Set the day's share aside in one place, and leave every table food question to your vet. A cat can have small pieces too, once the vet agrees.

Can salmon be your dog's Thanksgiving treat?

Yes, as a treat or a topper. The pouch holds one thing, wild-caught pink salmon, and the pieces include skin.

Per the listing, the pieces start out medium sized and can be snapped into quick, small rewards. So on the day, do the snapping before the cooking starts and keep the small bits in one dish. The same listing says to crumble the salmon over kibble or a raw meal when you would rather use it as a topper. Either way, keep fresh water down and stay with your dog while it eats, as the bag asks.

Because the salmon is freeze-dried raw, wash your hands after you handle it, and that includes the hand that reaches into the pouch while the oven is open and the kitchen is full.

How do you keep the day's share in one place?

Decide the amount before anyone sits down. Start with your dog's daily calories, typed into the treat budget calculator on our product page. Its share is a fixed 10 percent, its answer comes back as a weight of salmon, and it only works for dogs. Whatever your vet says about your dog replaces that number.

Then weigh that amount out, put it in a covered dish, and treat that dish as the whole supply for the day. An empty dish means the salmon is finished for the day. A single dish does the counting for you.

Nothing about the day changes the amount. The calculator does not have a holiday setting, and we do not suggest one.

What should guests know?

One person hands out the salmon. Pick that person early, and tell the rest of the room that the dog has its own dish. Guests who want to join in can ask the person in charge for a piece, and the person in charge decides. If a guest asks what is in the dish, the answer is short: wild-caught pink salmon and nothing else.

Keep the pouch resealed and out of reach when it is not in use. The bag asks for it to be resealed once open and stored cool and dry, so pick a cool, dry spot away from the dinner table.

A plan with one dish and one handler is easier to follow than a plan with ten.

The plan for the day, in order:

1. Decide the dog's share before the first guest arrives.
2. Put it in a covered dish.
3. Name one person to hand it out.
4. Close the pouch back up and store it.
5. Wash your hands after you handle the salmon.

What about the cat on the day?

Cats can have small pieces too. Crumble a few bits or snap them very small, and ask your vet before you offer any. We give no cat amount and the calculator is not built for cats, so your vet is the one who sets how much and how often.

The dish for the dog is not the dish for the cat. If both animals are in the house on Thanksgiving, set the cat's portion apart from the dog's, and follow the vet's word on it. Our guide for homes with both a dog and a cat goes through sharing a pouch.

The bag says: "Not intended as a complete diet." On a holiday or any other day, the regular meal is still the meal.

The rest of our pouch guides sit on the guides page.