By MATT PIKE

With more people coming in and out of your house this Thanksgiving holiday, you should also be sure to consider the well-being of your pets.

Melanie Barnes with Friends of the Animal Shelter says with more people coming over, maybe some your pets don’t know, it’s important to consider how they will react

“Does that stress your pet out? In which case, how are they going to behave, and how are they going to respond, and is that going to affect their health,” Barnes says on the KFEQmunnity show. “If you’re having kids over and you don’t have kids in the household, you put a three or four year old running around making noise or playing with noisemakers and maybe the pets not used to it, whether its a dog, cat, or some other type of pet.”

Barnes says if things like that do stress your pet out, you have to consider if they will make your pet run and hide or try to run away, making it important to keep them secure as you open the door to let people in and out.

Barnes says while most owners know their dogs well, they don’t always know what will set them off

“And it doesn’t always have to come from a place of anxiety within the pet, and obviously that’s the hardest part, is they can’t tell you how they’re feeling so you do have to be pretty observant,” Barnes explains

Barnes says while most of this happens with dogs going from puppies to adults, but points out its also common in senior dogs who are beginning to lose their senses

“So maybe their hearing, their sense of smell, potentially even a little bit of their eyesight, that can put them on edge,” Barnes says. “Because they don’t how to trust, they’re used to trusting all their senses, and they don’t know how to trust without that sense.”

Barnes points out to pet owners that while it may not always happen, a pets behavior can change from year to year, so it’s important to be aware.

As you cook all that food this Thanksgiving, there’s a good chance your pet is going to want some of it from your guests

Barnes says there are a number of things your pet shouldn’t eat this Thanksgiving, and it’s best to do your own research, but says best case scenario is don’t give your pet any human food

“If you know they’re going to give them those eyes, and you can’t intervene with your guests, it’s probably best to crate your dog or cat, or go put them in a separate room so they don’t get put in that situation,” Barnes says. “Because it’s kind of natural sometimes for the dog and cat to do that if you haven’t trained them otherwise, so sometimes you can’t really put that on them, and then if Uncle Bob comes over and always feeds the dog from the table, you need to do something to make sure Uncle Bob doesn’t do that.”

Barnes says you have to think about it from three perspectives, should they be eating it from a calorie perspective, a health perspective, and a toxicity perspective.

Barnes says items like grapes, raisins, onions, any raw items, and false sugars can all be toxic items to your pets used around Thanksgiving.

You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.