As we look forward to the festive season, it is sometimes easy to forget about our pet’s needs. As wonderful as the house looks with all the decorations, and as tasty as all the Christmas treats are, unfortunately both can pose hazardous to our pets. Foods to avoid giving your pet at Christmas
Chocolate- Raisins and grapes (includes mince pies and Christmas pudding!)
- Coffee
- Mushrooms
- Cooked bones and fatty food
- Peanuts and macadamia nuts
- Onions and garlic
- Goes without saying… alcoholic beverages
As tempting as it may be to avoid waste, we would advise you against giving your pet any leftovers if you want to avoid ‘Turkey Tummy’. Not only will this cause diarrhoea (no-one really wants to have to clean up an additional mess on St Stephens morning…) but cooked bones can splinter and get lodged in your pet’s throat or intestinal tract. Our pets do much better sticking to their regular diet. That’s not to say they won’t beg when they smell the Christmas delights, but consider keeping them out of the kitchen when you ar
While wishing you and your pets a very Happy Easter, we would like to highlight a particular hazard that frequently arises at this time of year, and that is chocolate poisoning in dogs. Chocolate contains an ingredient called theobromine, which is a chemical stimulant similar to caffeine. While humans are able to easily metabolise this chemical, dogs take longer to digest their food, so theobromine can be in their system for up to 20 hours. During this time, the dog’s nervous system, heart and kidneys may shut down. We would like to urge all pet owners to keep their chocolate baskets hidden well away from their hoover-mouthed pooches. More important is to impress upon everyone — especially children — that while they might think they are being generous offering the dog some of their Easter treats, chocolate can be 
poisonous even in the smallest of doses. If hiding eggs in the house or garden, please ensure that all are collected before letting your dog out- he or she will sniff them out in an instant due to their incredible sense of smell. Even foil wrappers will not deter a hungry