Christmas Foods to Avoid in your Pets

Christmas can be a great time to relax, to spend time with family and friends and  to socialise and entertain. Food and drinks are often an integral part of the time spent together and very often this leads to the family pets being given food items that are not a part of their daily diet during the rest of the year.
 
Over my time as a veterinarian, I have seen a lot of pets suffering from the consequences of dietary indiscretions in the Christmas / New Year break and at Easter time. There are a number of conditions, ranging in severity from mild and transient to severe and life threatening, that can come from feeding your pets foods and table scraps that they are not usually exposed to and you might be surprised by some of the foods that can cause injury or death. So in this article I would like to explore the “don’ts” at Christmas to make sure that your pets stay happy and well and enjoy the time that you spend with them.

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1. Top of the list is to avoid feeding large amounts of meat based table scraps, particularly if the scraps are fatty. The big culprits here are pork, lamb / mutton, beef and poultry fat left over from roasts and barbeques. Also avoid fatty foods like sausages (the excess barbeque ones that just get fed to the dog) and processed foods like fritz that also contain a lot of fat. Large amounts of fatty foods can result in gut pain and cramping, flatulence and diarrhoea. In some dogs, a high fat meal will cause hyperlipidaemia (an increase in fat in the blood) which can induce an inflammation of the pancreas, known as pancreatitis. Pancreatitis is a severe, potentially fatal condition that causes persistent vomiting, elevated temperature, severe abdominal pain and a very unwell dog. Treatment almost always involves a stay in hospital, something best avoided during the festive season if possible.
2. Along the same line is to avoid feeding cooked bones in any amount. When bones are cooked they become brittle and shatter when eaten. Bone fragments can be very sharp and penetrate the mouth or intestinal tract on their way through resulting in a range of issues from abscesses in the mouth and throat area to peritonitis (infection in the abdominal cavity). Large amounts of cooked bone can result in hard faeces full of bony pieces that can scrape the rectal lining when being passed resulting in bleeding from the anus. They can also cause constipation or a complete blockage of the bowel that will only be resolved with an anaesthetic and enemas. Large raw bones are OK to feed but all bone in excess can cause problems – so ideally feed raw bones large enough that your dog can spend time chewing on the bone but too big for your dog to chew up and swallow.
3. Chocolate in all forms should be avoided. Chocolate contains theobromine, a chemical that is a cardiac stimulant and diuretic. Poisoning results in excitation, trembling, vomiting and diarrhoea, increased heart rate and arrythmias, seizures and death. The theobromine content of chocolate is directly proportional to the concentration of cocoa beans in the chocolate, so for example, 1 gram of milk chocolate contains approximately 2 mg of theobromine while the same amount of dark chocolate contains about 20 mg. The toxic dose for dogs can be as low as 20 mg/kg weight and the lethal dose is 100-500 mg/kg (and even lower for cats). So cooking chocolate and high percentage cacao chocolate are the most toxic with as little as 25 grams being potentially lethal for a 5kg dog (2 squares of a high cacao dark chocolate). Regular milk chocolate is rarely implicated in fatalities in dogs due to the amount of chocolate that would need to be eaten to reach a lethal dose. However, eating significant amounts can still cause vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain.
   
4. Alcoholic beverages should never be offered to your pets. They are often attractive to dogs because of their sweetness, but alcohol can cause depression, incoordination, drooling, vomiting, weakness, collapse, decreased respiratory rate, low blood sugar, low blood pressure and low body temperature and can be fatal.
5. Coffee should never be given to dogs. Coffee contains xanthines which cause nervous system damage and cardiac stimulation and arrhythmias that can be fatal.
6. Scallop fronds and cleanings should never be fed to dogs or cats in any amounts. The bits you don’t eat contain a lethal toxin that causes paralysis and death by asphyxiation. These cleanings are very attractive to both dogs and cats because of their fishy odour so make sure they are disposed of in a way that your dogs and cats cannot get at them.
7. Macadamia nuts contain an unknown toxin that has only been reported affecting dogs. Ingestion of 1 gram of nuts or macadamia butter per kilogram of body weight can cause tremors, weakness, vomiting and diarrhoea that will last for 12-48 hours.
8. Onions, onion powder, garlic, garlic powder, chives and leek are toxic to both dogs and cats. Garlic is about 5 times as toxic as onions. Cats and Japanese breeds of dogs (Akita, Shibu Ina) are more sensitive to the toxic principal thiosulphates which causes damage to red blood cells, anaemia and gastroenteritis. Cooking does not reduce the toxicity of these foods. The toxic dose of onions is as little as 5g/kg weight in cats and 15 g/kg weight in dogs.
9. Raisins and grapes can be fatal to some dogs. As little as 6 grapes or raisins have caused acute kidney failure in some dogs. The toxic agent is yet to be identified but appears to be associated with the flesh of the grape.

 
There are many other foods and drinks that you might indulge in over the festive season that could make your pet sick if fed to them. So keep your pets safe by feeding them their regular diet and avoid table scraps, left overs and “treats” that might end up causing grief for both them and you.

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