This Christmas, we’d recommend staying vigilant to ensure your dog doesn’t help themselves to a trio of common Christmas toxins!!

Chocolate, fatty foods and garbage scraps are three of the top problem foods that cause illness in dogs over the festive season. Here’s more about these toxicities and why you should keep them well out of reach of your pet.

Chocolate

• Common culprits:
  • Gift boxes of chocolates
  • Chocolate advent calendars
• Symptoms that can occur:
  • These depend on the dose consumed, and can include:
    • Vomiting and/or diarrhoea
    • Increased thirst and urination
    • Restlessness, panting
    • Heart arrhythmias
    • Muscle tremors
    • Seizures
• Treatment potentially required:
  • Phone us or the Animal Poisons Helpline for an assessment of your pet’s likelihood of toxicity
  • Cases deemed to be at risk of significant toxicity may be recommended to undergo treatment with:
    • Medically induced vomiting
    • Activated charcoal
    • Intravenous fluids
    • Hospitalisation for monitoring and symptomatic treatment

Two bin-raiding friends undergoing medically induced vomiting.

Fatty foods

• Common culprits:
  • Ham or turkey scraps
  • Fatty BBQ meats
  • Exciting new dog treats
• Symptoms that can occur:
  • Pets may develop gastrointestinal upset or pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), with both showing similar symptoms, including:
    • Vomiting and/or diarrhoea
    • Lethargy
    • Abdominal pain
    • Dehydration
  • Severely affected pets can become very ill and can go into shock
• Treatment required:
  • Depending on the severity of the pet’s symptoms, treatment may include:
    • Outpatient care: a bland diet, anti-nausea medications, probiotic products, pain relief, or
    • Hospitalisation: the above, plus an intravenous drip and other supportive care and diagnostics (such as blood tests)

Garbage scraps

• Common culprits:
  • Full bin bags left out
  • Light bins that can be tipped over
• Symptoms that can occur:
• As well as the above tummy upset or pancreatitis issues, pets who eat spoiled foods can also be at risk of developing “garbage toxicity” from mould or bacterial toxins, which can cause neurological symptoms including:
  • Drooling
  • Wobbliness
  • Tremors or seizures
• Treatment required:
  • Hospitalisation for intravenous fluids and other supportive care as required (such as the management of seizures)
  • Activated charcoal +/- stomach flushing

For more information on these not-so-festive toxicities and more, consult our experienced veterinary team.