Easter Dangers for Pets

Easter is a wonderful time to celebrate with your family and friends, enjoying plenty of Easter eggs and treats, but there are a few extra precautions you will want to think about to keep your pets happy, healthy and safe.

Chocolate

Chocolate is poisonous to dogs. The toxic component is called theobromine which dogs cannot metabolize. Small amounts can cause an upset stomach, and large amounts can produce muscle tremors, seizures, an irregular heartbeat, internal bleeding or a heart attack. It’s wise to keep all chocolate away from your dogs this Easter to prevent an emergency trip to the bets, or worse.

Lillies

Lillies are a popular flower around Easter time, but they are also extremely poisonous for cats. All parts of the lily plant are poisonous; petals, leaves, stems and even the pollen. Even a small amount of pollen while grooming their fur, can suffer severe kidney failure and there is no known antidote.

Xylitol

It is important to keep all sweets and candy away from your pets, as it isn’t just chocolate that is toxic to dogs. Xylitol is an artificial sweetener found in many sweets and will cause severe sickness if ingested. Make sure your children don’t share any of their treats with the family pet, there are plenty of dog and cat safe treats that can be purchased from your local pet shop!

Easter Grass

This is the green paper or plastic ‘grass’ found in many Easter hampers and stuffed inside packaging. For the playful cat or dog, this can be too tempting to play with and eat. If your pet eats this it can wreak havoc on the digestive system, causing blockages and getting stuck in their intestines. The better alternative is straw, that looks just as festive, but is much safer and biodegradable too!