Christmas Hazards for Cats & Dogs | Dr. Kirsten's Season Pass

As the holiday season sparkles into life, our homes transform into a wonderland of lights and decorations. At ManyPets, we often handle claims for pets who've gotten into holiday hazards, ranging from chocolate-covered espresso beans to tinsel. (Not so jolly.) Thankfully, Dr. Kirsten is here to help - with top tips to keep your pets safe from any secret Christmas nasties and what to do in the case of an emergency. This is her Season Pass series, where she’ll be be helping you deal with all the pet health problems that pop up without fail every year – from hot weather in the summer months, to chocolate mishaps at Halloween.

TRANSCRIPT

for pet parents T the season to be very careful we're going to talk all about the hazards that come along with the most wonderful time of year Christmas we're talking toxic holiday treats festive foreign bodies anything that could trigger a trip to the vet a lot of the accidents we see coming into the Vet Clinic during the holidays are due to your pet eating something they should not be eating sometimes it's a case of them chewing on something that isn't food and it's caused an obstruction along their digestive system some of the things to look out for include the following tinsel and ribbon and ribbon if your pet eats it the tinsel won't break down and the long strands could get stuck in your cat or your dog's intestines cats are especially enthused by this long sparkly decor and can suffer from a linear foreign body where the tinsel bunches up in their small intestines and this can require surgery to repair next up is toys anything small in plastic that has parts that can be chewed by curious dogs swall swed and get stuck any toys containing small buttons batteries or strong magnets can wreak havoc on your pest digestive system if they're swallowed we also see an increase in the number of poisoning cases coming in around Christmas and this is because many of the foods we have more of during the festive season are actually very toxic to our dogs and cats one of the big ones that most people know about already is chocolate even in small amounts chocolate especially the darker varieties can be very toxic to our cats and dogs it can cause symptoms like an increased heart rate restlessness vomiting and diarrhea and in severe cases muscle Tremors and seizures for more information about chocolate poisoning you can check out our dedicated video where I talk about it in more detail another is grapes raisins and sultanas these are extremely toxic for our pets so please if your dog Chows down on a discarded mince pie or Christmas pudding call the V right away it can take some time for symptoms to show and by that time they may be at risk for things like kidney failure Bones Bones from your turkey or meat of choice can also be very dangerous for dogs they can easily Splinter and break into sharp pieces which can cause severe injuries to a dog's digestive tract or lead to choking internal punctures blockages and even fractured teeth while it's true that cooked Bones have a chance at digesting in the gut at some point then cases often require management anyways and come along with issues such as pancreatitis from the meat and fat that went into the bones kids in particular might think it's fine to give the pet Bones from their plate as a treat so making sure everyone is aware that this is a no no is a sensible move for all of these reasons I tell people it's easier to just skip the bones looping back to that note about pancreatitis the holidays are another time that we as vets treat a lot of tummy upset including vomiting diarrhea and potentially pancreatitis these symptoms are common particularly when the table scraps are fed the pet isn't used to eating like the fatty bits off of your turkey or your roast it's best to skip those holiday plants another thing to look out for is plants some of the plants that are brought into our house around Christmas like Holly poinsettias mistletoe and ivy can be toxic to our pets and lead to vomiting if you do have them around the house it's just best to keep them out of reach from your pets the Christmas tree finally this may not necessarily be a hazard depending on your pet but I'd be remiss not to mention the Christmas tree if your cat or dog is new to the holiday season they might be very curious about why you've brought this item from outside into their home this may naturally lead to chewing and climbing so it's best to pet proof it as much as possible luckily pine needles aren't particularly harmful to our pets if they're eaten but there's still something we want to avoid as they can cause some vomiting and irritation if possible pick a variety of tree that is known to shed less or an artificial tree for peace of mind it's also a good idea to put anything Fragile on higher branches curious noses and wagging Tails can easily cause breakages which can then be hazards for your pet if they step on or swallowed any cords or electrical cables that are at pet height should be tidied away where they're away from them to discourage chewing or tripping and finally secure that tree cats in particular love to climb so make sure that you have a secure tree base you keep your tree in the corner and if possible anchor it at the top and bottom to the wall