A network communication device executes both a service function related to processing network traffic and a lower priority monitoring function. The network device performs an event ingestion throttling method to process events while deferring to the higher priority function. The method includes obtaining an event for a first queue from a plurality queues the event responsive to a change in a local database of the network communication device. Determining if an event queue entry is available or if the event queue is full. Determining if a total of in-use queue entries is higher than a threshold. Using an event scheduler monitor function to determine whether or not to initiate throttling of events for the monitor function in favor of the service function based on a combination of either individual queues becoming full or a backlog across all queues representing a reason to initiate throttling.