Every Thanksgiving my vets sees a rash of cases of pancreatitis among
dogs. Owners with only the best intentions allow the dog to share in
the feast by allowing Fido to gorge on a pile of fatty turkey scraps,
possible doused in gravy (still more fat).

The pancreas attempts to cope with the overload by releasing a surge of
digestive enzymes, causing the pancreas to become inflamed. Symptoms
are abdominal pain, lack of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, a
crouched, hunched up posture, dehydration, and in the later stages,
irregular heart beat, sepsis, and if left untreated, death.

A few bites of lean meat won't do your dog any harm, but make sure any
guest you may have know not to feed scraps to the dog, and make sure
leftovers meant to be discarded are bagged up and taken to an outside
trash container with a dog-proof lid. A trip to the emergency clinic
will take a lot of the fun out the long weekend.