Delicacies, laid tables, Christmas decorations…Everything Christmas dangers for dogs and cats.
To avoid spending Christmas Eve in the veterinary emergency room, follow this guide on how to avoid the dangers of the Christmas season and toxic foods for dogs and cats.
1. Keep an eye out for chocolate around
I Chocolate sweets that we eat at Christmas are real Christmas dangers for the dog and the cat, especially for Fido. The latter rarely refuses to taste them, unlike the cat who is not attracted to sugary foods.
At best, the dog who eats chocolate sweets will have aindigestionbut in the worst case these ingested substances can cause the death of the animal.
The fault lies with theobrominea molecule present in cocoa, harmless to humans but not to animals, which will suffer from gastric ulcers, convulsionsheart attacks.
2. Our food is not for them!
Our tables at Christmas are filled with delicious food and episodes of dogs or cats that “accidentally” they taste even just a bite of these wonders for our palate are not rare.
If your pet he went too far with the Christmas tasteswe advise you to go to a veterinarianas the excessive consumption of fat could cause the dog to have serious pancreatitis and the specialist will be able to advise you on what to do.
Toxic foods for dogs
Here is a list of the most dangerous foods for animals:
- Chocolate: As we have seen previously, chocolate is highly toxic to dogs. It can in fact cause breathing difficulties, vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions up to death in some cases;
- Fish bones e chicken bones: both cause stomach laceration as well as a choking hazard;
- Raw potatoes: contain solanine, which can cause serious digestive problems;
- Alcohol: causes intoxication, dizziness, coma, up to death;
- Garlic e onion: damage blood cells and cause anemia;
- Grapes and shores: they cause intestinal problems and kidney failure;
- Avocado: contains persine, which causes damage to the heart and lungs;
- Walnuts: damage the muscles and nervous system and increase the heart rate.
Food harmful to the cat
It is important to know which foods and drinks are forbidden for cats to avoid them getting sick, with disorders such as: indigestionvomiting, diarrhea or even create the conditions for the development of one pathology which could become chronic.
Among the forbidden foods for cats there are some unsuspected, since they have always been used to feed it but which, in the long run, can cause various health problems. It is the case of:
- Chocolate;
- Sweets and fatty foods;
- Foods rich in salt;
- Raw meat, fish and eggs;
- Leavened doughs;
- Raisins and grapes;
- Onion and garlic;
- Milk and derivatives;
- Alcohol and coffee;
- Citrus and acidic foods.
3. The bottles can be uncorked even without letting the cork fly
To avoid the Christmas dangers for the dog and the cat as much as possible, don’t forget to count the wine or champagne corks at the end of the evening: intestinal obstruction due to ingestion by a curious dog or cat is a classic emergency the day after the party!
4. Dogs and cats don’t have a green thumb
To avoid the Christmas dangers for the dog and the cat, place the holly and the mistletoe out of reach of your faithful companions.
Salt’holly is responsible for a mild gastroenteritis, le mistletoe berries they can instead cause vomiting and neurological disorders, up to death of the animal.
L’fir is the ideal playground for cats: branches to climb on, trunks to scratch, suspended objects… Rare are the felines that resist them, risking ruining them or get burned with electric lights and get shocked.
We can place natural repellents at the foot of the tree such as citrus peel or dissuade the feline rascal with a water jet!
And speaking of getting burned, watch out for lit candles, too! Leave them in places your 4-legged friends cannot reach!
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Article written for Todocat.com by:
By Laetitia BARLER
French veterinary journalist