Health
6 Christmas Hazards For Dogs
Christmas hazards for dogs
It’s the favourite time of year for most of us. Christmas.
We love celebrating with our pets as much as we do with our family and friends. They get an increase of attention from us, as well as visiting relatives. We are at home more than usual, spoiling them with Christmas treats and extra-long walks – now we have time on our hands.
There’s a huge surge of stimulation from twinkling fairy lights and glittering baubles, a tree that takes up half the living room and delicious smells of home cooking wafting through the air, as we test our culinary skills through the festive season. This will intrigue and excite our pets, but unfortunately, this time of year can also bring new hazards to your dog, that you should keep an eye out for during the holidays.
1. Christmas chocolate
We never consume more chocolate than we do at Christmas time, but chocolate, although delicious, is highly toxic for dogs. The darker the chocolate, the worse it is, but all chocolate can cause your pet to be seriously ill. The consumption of any chocolate at all can result in vomiting and diarrhoea, which may escalate into seizures and liver or heart problems.
We have to keep sharper than usual eye on our furry friends during the Christmas period. They can smell out the chocolates so, try to keep them out of reach. There are plenty of Christmas dog treats and calendars out there if you want to include you pals in your advent calendar opening traditions.
2. Christmas desserts
Mince pies, Christmas cake, Christmas pudding and panettone! All great Christmas teats for us, but all contain raisins, sultanas or currants which are poisonous to dogs. Along with grapes, which are often added to your cheese and cracker board, they can lead to sickness and diarrhoea and eventual kidney failure in dogs. Like chocolate they all smell irresistible, so make sure to keep them Out of Reach if you have a cheeky cake thief in the house.
3. Leftovers
Some leftovers can be a great thing to share with your pooch, but other parts of the Christmas dinner are unsuitable. Turkey bones are always tempting to give to your dog. However, any cooked bone can become brittle and splinter easily, puncturing in your dog’s throat or stomach. This can result in an expensive trip to the vets on Christmas Day – not something on your Christmas list!
Another part of the leftovers to avoid is the Onion family. This includes onions, shallots, garlic and leeks. These foods contain a substance that harms the red blood cells of your dog. It generally takes a while for any symptoms to arise which include diarrhoea, weakness, loss of breath and dehydrated urine.
4. Nuts
Many of us only buy a bag of mixed nuts or chestnuts to roast on the fire at Christmas. These nuts cause a huge range of problems for our dogs, including vomiting and diarrhoea and even long term tremors. Not to mention that some of our greedier four legged friends may swallow some of the larger nuts whole, which can cause stomach and intestinal obstructions, especially in small dogs. Another unwanted trip to the vets over the festive period that can be stopped.
5. Blue cheese
Many varieties of cheese aren’t poisonous or toxic to dogs, but blue cheese is! These types of cheese are are often a favourite at Christmas! Unfortunately the mould found in blue cheese can cause muscle tremors and seizures in dogs which can last for days.
6. Wrapping paper
With more presents than we can ever possibly need dotted around the house and under the tree, it may be a tempting snack, too irresistible to resist for our canine companions and although most wrapping paper is not toxic, especially as the world becomes more eco friendly, large amounts can cause blockages.
Christmas time is a very special time with our pets and keeping an eye on the risks to your four legged family members can be all that is needed to keep temptation away.
Why not treat your dog to a pack of Wilverley dog food.