Keep the chocolate away from your dog this Easter

Firstly, we’d like to wish you all a very Happy Easter – we hope you have a lovely weekend.

We thought it would also be appropriate to remind everyone to keep chocolate away from your dog this Easter as new figures show that two in three vets treated at least one case of poisoning by chocolate last Easter.

A survey carried out by the British Veterinary Association which polled over 1,600 vets showed an increase in the number of vets seeing at least one dog with chocolate poisoning compared to the same time in 2015.

Eating chocolate can be deadly to pets, especially dark chocolate, because of the toxic component in it called theobromine. Humans can easily metabolise this, but dogs (and other animals) process it much more slowly, and so it builds up to a toxic level in their body.

President Gudrun Ravetz of the British Veterinary Association said “Easter is great fun for the whole family, but unfortunately dogs like to join in too. With their keen sense of smell, they will easily win Easter egg hunts so wherever chocolate is being stored – inside or outside – make sure it is pet proof and out of reach of inquisitive noses to avoid an emergency trip to the vet. Also remind any visitors over the Easter holidays to keep their chocolate out of the dog’s reach too.

“Over the bank holiday weekend veterinary practice opening hours may vary, so make sure you know how to contact your local vet during Easter. If you suspect your pet has eaten chocolate we’d advise contacting your local vet immediately.”

Thu Apr 13 2017