Can dogs eat kebab meat?

Doner meat is minced lamb, beef, or chicken mixed with salt, spices, and fat, pressed onto a vertical spit. A typical takeaway portion can hold more than 1,000 calories, with a large share coming from fat. The spice mix often contains garlic and onion powder.

Because the seasoning may include garlic or onion, even a scrap is worth a call to your vet, and a dog that eats a full portion is also taking in a heavy load of fat and salt at once.

Garlic sauce is exactly what it sounds like: garlic blended into yogurt or mayonnaise. Kebab salads usually include raw sliced onion. Garlic and onion both belong to the allium family and can damage a dog's red blood cells, with signs sometimes appearing days later. Chili sauce adds stomach irritation.

The bread is the least worrying part, but it is usually soaked in all of the above.

Shish kebabs are grilled on wooden or metal skewers. Dogs will often swallow a meat-soaked wooden skewer whole or in long pieces. Skewers can pierce the stomach or intestine and travel into the chest or abdomen, and signs may be vague at first.

If you suspect your dog swallowed a skewer, call your vet straight away even if your dog seems well.

If you are grilling at home, cook a few cubes of plain chicken or lean lamb on a separate skewer with no marinade. Take them off the skewer, let them cool, and offer them in small pieces. Keep used skewers in a closed container until they go in the bin.