Many of these are also true for cats.

Also, related. Dogs can eat cat food but cats shouldn't eat dog food. Cats require almost no carbohydrates in their diet, where dogs bodies work on a higher level of carbohydrates. So if a cat eats dog food it will gain a huge amount of weight quickly.

The best thing to do it just not feed your dogs or cats ANY people food. Then you won't have to worry.

I've always heard the opposite on the dog/cat food issue. If a dog eats catfood, it can really mess up doggy's digestive system. But if a cat eats dogfood (just a little, not on a regular basis by any means!!), it's not a big deal. Agree with @mattster about not giving your dogs or cats people food.

My dog ate an obscene amount of chocolate this past weekend. =( Campfire + total darkness + smore fixings + sneaky ninja dog = disaster. We didn't even know he was sneaking pieces of chocolate until we went to put everything away. Lesson learned - find somewhere super high to hide the campfire goodies. Thankfully our wee little 11lb shih tzu seems to be recovering ok, after destroying our entire house in the middle of the night with his, uh, sickness. I'm hoping he learned his lesson, too...but he seems to have an insatiable obsession with chocolate. If anybody is eating it, he comes running. We have to keep it all hidden away!

I've also heard avocado is dangerous for them.

And, from recent personal experience, keep your trash well-covered. I woke up in the middle of the night to my little jack russel licking clean an empty ground turkey container from dinner. Needless to say, he got very sick. Bowels were a wreck that ended up causing colitis. Poor little guy. :(

mattster - I totally agree with you. Dogs need DOG food. Not people food. Better safe than sorry.

Agree with @mattster, no people food is the best way to go. Plus, they don't beg as much when they are not used to being handed things from the table.

I used to have the most beautiful dog ever (don't even try and compete) who ate dog food her entire life, so I heartily agree with the comments above.

However, we used to make an exception at Christmas: she had a tiny dog-friendly sandwich, basically made from the meal we were about to eat. No chocolate, but foie gras and such. She enjoyed it, and never ever begged at the table the rest of the year. It was a special treat, and she understood it.

Today, I feed my cat with high-end catfood, but she has a tiny plate of canned tuna for Christmas. Up to this day, I can leave raw fish on the table, and she just smells it and goes away. Cats seem to be much more picky about their food, so no chocolate problem.

Well, garlic in small amounts can boost a dogs immune system and also repel bugs like ticks and fleas. Avocado is good for their skin. There is an entire line of natural dog foods called Avoderm that contains it. You can give your dog avocado, just do not let them get a hold of the pit. And I made my Shiba Inu's food for a long time, usually a mix of chicken or turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, calcium supplements, fish oil, etc... Then we got another dog and I switched them to a freeze dried raw food with fresh meat and veggies that I would add. Almost anything that is good and healthy for you is also good for your dog. But you should stay away from giving them wheat, corn, or soy products as a lot of dogs can be allergic. Also, table scraps laden with spices may make a dog sick, and it's not chocolate specifically, but the CAFFEINE in it that is dangerous.

Some dogs will eat anything. A friend left his labrador in his ceramic studio for an hour (on a secure leash with water bowl and dog food), and the dog gobbled down a bunch of dry glaze containing strontium. $1200 in vet bills, but the dog was fine....

My cat is more reasonable: he likes CheeriOs.

If you look into making your own food for your dog, you'll find lots of healthy veggies for them. Just because they have food that isn't from a pet store doesn't automatically bad for them. When ever I fix carrot sticks, I cut some extras for the dog's bowl.

What do you think cats and dogs ate before there was such a thing a dog and cat food?

Oh my! They ate "people food!"

And what is in canned and dry food? Uh oh! "People food!"

Processed foods are worse by far for your animals. Raw meats, veggies, and the proper amounts of vitamins and minerals will make your little beasts stronger and healthier and happier.

For cats: Check out Anitra Frazier's "The New Natural Cat" book.

You will love it.

Cats can eat dog food. Dogs should not eat cat food, however. Our farm cats eat dog food only. We buy it in bulk to have out for them. They do fine with it. Just fyi.

When my cat was diagnosed with diabetes, I was heartbroken to discover I cold no longer give him cat treats. OH NO! My cat will stop loving me! It's been almost 5 months now and I miss the treats more than he does. I removed those and wet food from his diet and he still loves me. We give treats to our pets because WE want them to have them. Knock it off and I promise Pooch & Kitty won't care (eventually!)

Yes, GRAPES! My beloved border collie, Jasper, died after a lifetime of eating grapes, plus a near disaster afternoon at the lake when he ingested way too much water and compromised his kidneys. He was 'herding' waves and 'biting' them for well over an hour. He died of kidney failure and at 12 acted younger than the 4-year old dogs. If only I'd known about grapes back then and the excessive water intake.

Laughing with @Arkay. My one cat comes RUNNING any time I have a cinnamon variety of cereal. It's so weird because I thought cats couldn't detect sweet. I mean, HE WILL FIGHT ME for the bowl.

Don't forget that houseplants can be dangerous for dogs and cats, too! Lilies can be deadly for cats, and diffenbachia is dangerous for everyone.

My dog eats mostly vegetables, because he likes them better than his dog food. That's the only "people food" he gets, leftover salad and other veg.

Just correcting the first few comment since they are not entirely correct... Cats cannot eat dog food because they require taurine in their diet as they do not produce it naturally. Without taurine they will, over time, develop cardiomyopathy.

BONES! As in, real bones. They can splinter in your dog's stomach and tear his intestines.

I once read that feeding your pets dry food will keep their teeth strong.

My dog and cat will both eat anything. My dog because, well, he's a dog, and I'm pretty sure my cat learned it from him. I once saw her eat a potato chip. She'll also do anything for eggs.

My dog once ate rat poison. Our fault, we had it in storage in the basement and he wandered down there without us noticing. We rushed him to the vet, and luckily he gobbled up the charcoal like it was a treat and he was fine. I can't believe it, because he was a 15 pound puppy at the time. Maybe he didn't eat as much as we thought...

@whiteforest yes that is what I've heard re: cats and dog food. Though it doesn't stop my cat from trying.

Cool info for a pet owner.

I know you shouldn't give dogs chocolate, but I can't resist telling this story: the dog I had when I was growing up (a huge, 150lb mutt) ate an entire chocolate cake one time. It was a birthday cake from a bakery and he got it off the stove while we were out and ate the whole cake plus the the cardboard underneath it (he left the box) and he didn't get sick at all.

I also can't resist introducing a little anecdote: my big yellow lab growing up ate grapes every summer (as part of his dead-eye-catching-lobbed-food trick), chocolate with the foil wrappers every Easter, and an entire chocolate cake every other birthday or so. He was a master of escape, climbing 12 foot trees, 8 foot fences, and yes, to the tops of fridges containing said chocolatey treats. That dog lived to be 14, which is pretty long for a big dog. Perhaps he was immune to the negative effects of chocolate and grapes but, nothing ever came of his eating those no-no foods except some shiny poop every Easter.

Thanks for the list! It's funny, because all my dogs growing up LOVED my mom's pasta. Anytime she cooked it, she'd make a plate for them. They sucked it up like nobody's business. They all lived over 10 years with no health problems! And her sauce was laden with onions and garlic. I wonder if maybe she just didn't put much sauce on there?

I've always heard the very best thing to feed your dogs is plain chicken and veggies.

Also, our cat FEASTS on our dog's food. It's pretty irritating. She would eat his food, but it's high up where only he can jump up to get it. But there's only so high we can put her food since she's a dog... and Andy will always get to it. Being a cat and all. But so far so good, no gained weight. He won't listen anyway!

And lastly, our weimeraner growing up ate a whole Hershey chocolate bar I left out when I was a kid and he had a big seizure. Of course, he always had seizures, so who knows. I always heard dark chocolate was the bad stuff, but apparently milk chocolate did a number on him!

Here's a question: does anyone know if green olives are in any way harmful to pets? They happen to be my favorite food and my cat loves the salt on them. I'm careful not to feed her much (usually just a few drops of the juice) and she has never seemed to be harmed by it, but does anyone know one way or the other? Thanks!

Garlic as a toxin to dogs is in debate (however, quit toxic for cats). Garlic in small amounts can help combat fleas and worms. At a high dosage it can/may cause blood cell issues/disease in certain breeds. Vets have been unable to determine what dosage exactly results in the blood cell issues. Most of your dog's food and treats have a small dosage of garlic in them which most vets say is harmless in such a small amount.

As for my experience, my grandfather use to give a small clove of garlic to our dogs (when I was younger) to help prevent and combat fleas. Most of our dogs lived to ripe old ages of 14-17 (one even lived to 20) years of age (I say most cause we had a 2-3 killed by cars). I have one dog now, I give him garlic maybe 2 to 3 times a year, if that. I mostly make sure I bath him in an all natural shampoo to keep the fleas away. He is completely healthy. XD