Choosing Your Pet To Eat A Chinese New Year Meal

A Chinese New Year Celebration Meal For Your Pet?

Year of the Ox – 2021

Friday, February 12th, 2021 sees The Lunar Year celebrations for the Year Of The Ox by our British Chinese Community.

The UK have grown to love a take-away Chinese meal especially during our recent Covid-19 year, 2020, when Rules have allowed us.

2017, a study conducted by the NPD Group showed that Chinese food was the UK’s favourite food for delivery with a massive 179 million servings, with pizza staying close behind with 171 million.

Chinese communities are scattered all over the UK with Chinatowns in large cities, such as London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle upon Tyne. There are significant Chinese communities in other major cities and towns, at Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff, Bristol, Sheffield, Cambridge and Milton Keynes and represented in suburban areas and smaller towns, and a huge number of the Chinese population running our beloved Chinese restaurants and take-aways. Read more about the UK Chinese community.

Can You Give Your Dog Or Cat Chinese Meal Left-overs?

No, please don’t!

There’s been a huge shift in public care by owners over the last decade that they want their pets to participate with them in everything they do, whether it’s going on holiday, to jogging in the park, or having their own Christmas cracker and lunch and this includes feeding pets with human foods which can lead to unwanted emergency visits to the vet.

What’s In A Chinese Meal?

Onions and garlic are particularly well-known foods toxic to pets, and signs of poisoning are slow to show often days after your pet has eaten them.

Noodles, Rice, Meats and Vegetables generally pose no risk, however, it is all the prepared foods, sauces and gravies that contain the risks of toxicity for your pet. These sauces are generally very rich, containing spices and salt.

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is a nasty chemical for pets to eat and most Chinese food takeaways have substantial amounts. It is a flavour enhancer added as a food ingredient but use of this remains controversial even to human consumption.

Side effects

Your pet may suffer diarrhea sometime after eating a Chinese meal and this being the signs that your pet shouldn’t have eaten it. It’s not nice cleaning up the poop when out dog walking in the park a day or so later, so avoid it by not giving them left-overs.

If you do – give your pet a helping but limit the size and don’t serve the sauces.

Enjoy the celebrations but avoid giving your pets the leftovers.