Easter Safety for your Pet

With Easter just round the corner most of us will enjoy spending some quality time with our four legged furry friends. Sadly the Easter holidays can also bring a few hazards to our pets, so be on the lookout for the following:

Chocolate

Chocolate and pets are never a good mix! Your dog may love the smell and the taste but chocolate even in small quantities is highly poisonous to your dog. So make sure that you keep those Easter eggs are out of reach.

Chocolate contains substances called Methylxanthines such as caffeine and theobromine, which dogs are far more sensitive to than people. Humans can break down and get rid of methylxanthines but unfortunately our pets metabolise them very slowly, which leads to a rapid build up of harmful toxins.  Different types of chocolate contain different amounts of methylxanthines generally the darker the chocolate the greater the danger.

There is no rule as to how much chocolate is poisonous to dogs, it depends on the type of chocolate the size, age and health of the dog. However a small bar of chocolate contains more than enough theobromine to kill a small dog.

If you have an Easter egg hunt, count them before you start: it’s easy to forget where you’ve hidden them all, and you don’t your pets finding them later on.

Sweets

Many sweets contain a natural sweetener called Xylitol, which is highly toxic to some animals, e
specially cats. Xylitol it is absorbed into the bloodstream, which results very quickly in a large amount of insulin being released into the body. Within minutes this insulin drastically decreases the level of blood sugar (hypoglycemia). Left untreated, hypoglycemia can be life-threatening.

Xylitol is estimated to be 100 times more toxic to animals than chocolate! The level of toxicity depends on how much Xylitol is in the prod
uct but as little as a few sweets or 2 sticks of chewing gum could kill a small pet

Other Easter treats

Raisins, peanuts and coffee beans are also dangerous to pets. This is due to their potentially lethal cocktail of toxic chemicals.

Lilies

Every part of a lily plant is poisonous to cats, the leaf, the flowers and the pollen. Less than one leaf ingested by a cat can cause kidney failure and urgent veterinary care is required.

Daffodils, Tulips & Hyacinths

can also be toxic to animals so make sure they don’t eat or chew them.

Peace and quiet

Households can be very busy over the Easter holidays so make sure your pet has a quiet place to go to if your household has a lot of visitors, noise, etc. Using a calming and destressing product such as Pet Remedy will help if your pet is stressed with lots of visitors and noise.

Animals can get hayfever as well!

Cats and dogs can develop allergies to plants, pollen’s, grasses, and other substances in springtime so if your pet is scratching their skin or ears, has runny eyes or has respiratory problems you should give your vet a ring.

Spring Bugs

Animals are very likely to pick up bugs like fleas and ticks and worms as the weather is getting warmer so make sure to regularly give them their treatments from your vet at this time of year.

Spring Cleaning

Make sure that you keep all your cleaning liquids, sprays and cloths out of reach of curious pets if you are planning to do some spring cleaning. Paws can be irritated by floor cleaning detergents so be careful to keep your pets out of the way until the floor dries. Also be careful if you are using any chemicals or paints in your garden or are doing DIY in your house.