From Halloween to New Year’s, there is more food within reach of a curious nose than at any other time of year. A candy bowl by the door. A turkey resting on the counter. A guest who means well and slips a bite under the table.

Pets get into things. It happens in the most careful homes.

Here’s what to keep out of reach this season, what to watch for, and who to call if something disappears.

Halloween candy

• Chocolate. It contains theobromine and caffeine, which are toxic to dogs and cats. The darker the chocolate, the more dangerous it is, and baking chocolate and cocoa powder are the most dangerous of all. Signs can include vomiting, diarrhea, restlessness, a racing heart, tremors and seizures, and they may not show up for several hours.

• Sugar-free candy and gum. Many contain xylitol, sometimes listed as birch sugar. In dogs it can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar and liver damage. Signs can start fast, but serious effects can also take up to a day to appear.

• Raisins. Those little snack boxes are a real risk for dogs. More on grapes and raisins below.

• Wrappers, foil and lollipop sticks. Swallowed, they can get stuck in the stomach or intestines and cause a blockage that may need surgery.

The Thanksgiving table

• Turkey and chicken bones. They can splinter, and pieces can get stuck in the throat, stomach or intestines or cut them on the way down. Signs of a problem can take hours or days to show.

• Turkey skin, drippings and gravy. Rich, fatty foods can cause vomiting and diarrhea, and can trigger pancreatitis, a painful inflammation of the pancreas. It can take a few days to show.

• Stuffing, and anything with onion or garlic. Onions, garlic, leeks and chives can damage red blood cells in dogs and cats, and cats are especially sensitive. Cooked and powdered forms count, and signs usually take a few days to appear.

• Grapes, raisins and dried currants. They have been linked to kidney injury in dogs, and there is no known safe amount. Check the stuffing, the fruitcake and the trail mix.

• Raw bread dough. It can keep rising in the stomach, and as the yeast ferments it produces alcohol.

• Alcohol. Drinks, eggnog and desserts made with liquor are dangerous for dogs and cats.

• Macadamia nuts. In dogs they can cause weakness, vomiting, tremors and a raised temperature. Most dogs recover, but it’s still worth a call to your veterinarian.

Flowers, if you share your home with a cat

Lilies are common in fall centerpieces and holiday bouquets. True lilies and daylilies can cause kidney failure in cats, even from a little pollen licked off their fur or a sip of the water in the vase. If your cat may have touched one, call your veterinarian right away, because early treatment matters.

Poinsettias have a scarier reputation than they deserve. They can irritate the mouth and stomach, but they are only mildly toxic.

If you’d like to share

No holiday food is completely safe for pets, and the simplest plan is to keep them on their usual food. If you’d like to include them, a small piece of plain cooked turkey, with no bones, skin or seasoning, is usually fine. If you share pumpkin, use plain canned pumpkin, not pie filling, which can contain spices and sometimes xylitol. If your pet has a health condition or a special diet, ask your veterinarian first.

If they get into something

Call your veterinarian, an emergency clinic or a pet poison hotline right away, even if your pet seems fine. Several of these problems take hours, or even days, to show.

Don’t try to make your pet vomit unless a veterinarian or a poison control expert tells you to.

It helps to have the package or wrapper with you, along with what was eaten, roughly how much, when, and your pet’s weight.

• ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center: (888) 426-4435

• Pet Poison Helpline: (855) 764-7661

Both are open 24 hours a day, and a consultation fee may apply. It’s worth saving the numbers in your phone before the holidays begin.

A calmer holiday

You don’t have to turn the season into a lockdown. A few small habits go a long way: the candy bowl up high, a lid on the kitchen trash, and a quiet room your pet can retreat to when the house fills up. It’s also okay to tell guests, kindly, that your dog has a no-scraps rule.

And if something slips through anyway, calling for help quickly is one of the most caring things you can do.

Caring for a sick pet through the holidays is its own kind of tired. If that’s where you are this year, The Caregiver Nobody Sees was written for you.

If you’d like people to talk it through with, Care Circle is free for anyone caring for a pet. And the NurturedPet app, the companion we built for caregivers, is in free beta now.

Sources

We’re arranging a veterinary review of this article. Until it’s done, here are the sources behind it.

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Keep Your Dogs and Cats Safe From Holiday Hazards

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Leave Chocolate Out of Rover’s Celebrations

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Paws Off Xylitol; It’s Dangerous for Dogs

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Lovely Lilies and Curious Cats, A Dangerous Combination

• ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center: People Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pets

• Pet Poison Helpline: Halloween Pet Safety

• Merck Veterinary Manual: Chocolate Toxicosis in Animals

• MSD Veterinary Manual: Garlic and Onion (Allium spp) Toxicosis in Animals

• MSD Veterinary Manual: Grape, Raisin, and Tamarind Toxicosis in Dogs

• Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital: Keep your pets safe this Thanksgiving

This article shares general safety information from veterinary sources. It isn’t a substitute for advice from your own veterinarian. If you think your pet has eaten something harmful, call your veterinarian or a pet poison hotline.