Advice for Pet Owners During Christmas 2024

“This Christmas, Keep Those Treats to Yourself”

Although it might seem like a call for gluttony, this is the advice coming from the veterinary representative body, Veterinary Ireland, for this coming Christmas season, in order to ensure the health and safety of our feline and canine family members.

While they are beloved family members, our cats and dogs can be at risk from eating some of our favourite human Christmas treats, and doing so can make them feel really ill, or even endanger their lives.

The most common human food which our companion animal family members should not eat is chocolate. While there are chocolatey treats available from your vet, designed specifically for your pet, the regular human chocolate sweets and bars we enjoy at Christmas can contain substances, such as caffeine, which can make your pet really ill. The darker the chocolate, the more likely it is to affect your pet, and this can result in your pet being physically sick, or even being poisoned. Sugary sweets can also cause human-like problems in pets, including obesity, diabetes, and dental decay.

Other Christmas treats which we all enjoy are also dangerous to our feline and canine family members. While turkey and ham are family favourites for Christmas dinners, remember that our pets are not often used to hot meals, and so a steaming hot piece of turkey, fresh out of the oven, can actually cause your pet great discomfort or even damage their stomachs. Both dishes may also contain slivers of brittle bone, which can seriously damage your pet’s stomach and cause other gastro-intestinal issues.

Other Christmas fayre such as stuffing, gravy, Christmas puddings and even mince pies can contain hidden ingredients which may be dangerous to your pet dog or cat. Members of the onion family can contain a toxin which is dangerous to dogs and cats, and which can cause damage to red blood cells. Even small doses of onions matter, as the toxins can have a cumulative effect. Also, the kinds of dried fruit that you find in some Christmas desserts can be especially dangerous to cats and dogs, and can actually poison your pet. Other human Christmas treats can be toxic to pets, including macadamia nuts, and some dried fruits, such as currants and raisins found in mince pies and Christmas cakes and puddings.

Also the amount and type of food can matter to some pets, and while other rich, fatty foods may not be toxic, eaten in large quantities by our pet family members they can cause vomiting and diarrhoea, or even more serious gastro-intestinal problems, such as pancreatitis, which in severe cases can be fatal.

Whether feeding your pet family member some Christmas treats, or even if they are able to help themselves, it is important that should your feline or canine family member start to show any signs of illness, being sick or having diarrhoea, becoming lethargic, shaking or having trouble with their breathing, then you should contact your own veterinary practitioner immediately.

Veterinary Practices are open all-year round and will be on call for all emergencies, even on Christmas Day.

On behalf of all its members, Veterinary Ireland would like to wish all of your families, human and companion animal, a very happy and safe Christmas 2024.