With it being such a busy time of year and Christmas is around the corner, it’s easy to take your eye off the ball. However, it’s important to remember there are many Christmas foods that are dangerous for our cats and dogs. When we are rushing around it’s easy to leave things out on the side and depending on what that is and how clever your pets are, it can have devastating consequences. We have been doing a bit of research to find out which Christmas foods are dangerous for cats and dogs and we list a few below so you can be aware and make sure they don’t get access to dangerous snacks.
Cats and dogs are naturally inquisitive and curious and they are highly skilled at getting into packets and also begging for things they really shouldn’t have. Giving in to those puppy eyes is often more dangerous than we realise.
Chocolate
Chocolate is well known to be highly toxic to cats and dogs. However, even though most pet owners know this, it’s worth reminding yourself as at this time of year our homes have a lot more chocolate around and it’s easy to forget and leave them lying around. Perhaps you are wrapping but nip to the bathroom and there are lots of tasty chocolate treats on the floor, it won’t take your crafty cats and dogs long to sniff out the tasty treats and rip open the packets. Advent calendars often get forgotten and are easily left lying around the house by little ones who don’t understand they are dangerous for their pets. We keep our advent calendars up on a high shelf well away from Sammy and Luna. Sammy is an expert in ripping up cardboard and Luna has a reputation for stealing food! You can find lots more information on why is chocolate so dangerous for pets in our previous blog.
Christmas chocolate is dangerous for cats and dogs
Cooked bones
Does your dog love to chew bones? Bones are great for dogs, however, cooked bones can be very dangerous as they splinter much more easily increasing the risk of obstruction of the gut or airways, which could have fatal consequences. So please don’t be tempted to give your dog cooked bones that are left over from your festive cooking. Always give dogs uncooked (raw bones), which are much safer and good for their teeth. Please supervise your pets though with their raw bone to ensure it doesn’t splinter and cause injury. Cats should not be given bones as they could choke on them and cause an obstruction.
Nuts
Nuts are a popular snack during the Christmas season including almonds, walnuts, brazils and pecan nuts, all of which can be very toxic to your furry friends. In fact all nuts can pose a very real danger to your cats and dogs due to the potential for them to cause obstruction in the gut or airways. Please be very careful if you have nuts in your house and make sure everyone, including your visitors know to keep them up high, away from furry paws and nibbling teeth! The other thing to watch out for is Christmas cake, which often contains these nuts and also raisins, which are very harmful to dogs and cats.
Christmas nuts and raisins
Grapes and Raisins
Grapes are often found in the fridge or fruit bowl at home and you likely have some raisins in your cupboard. Be very careful when snacking on grapes not to leave them where your pet’s can pinch them as they are toxic to pets and can even cause kidney failure, which is extremely serious. Lots of you will be baking Christmas cake so will have lots of dried fruit around for that, so please take extra care and keep your dried fruits securely packed away in a cupboard out of reach.
With a bit of care and forward planning we can all have a happy and safe Christmas and avoid a trip to the vets and possibly devastating consequences.
Wishing you all a pawsome and healthy Christmas.
If you would like to further read up on dangerous foods for pets we found the Petopedia and Hills Science websites very helpful.
Also check out our other blog Why is Chocolate So Dangerous For Pets
