keep the ‘spring’ in your pets step

With the lighter nights and sunnier spring days, comes more fun for your beloved pets. Time to play in the garden, go for longer walks, day trips or simply bask in the sun and breath in the beautiful spring air. But with Easter just around the corner there are a few things that you need to be aware of to keep your furry friends safe.

Hot cross buns can be dangerous to pets, grapes, sultanas, raisins and currants are highly toxic to dogs and cats, a very small quantity can lead to kidney failure. Chocolate is also dangerous for dogs, cats, rabbits and many other animals too, it contains a chemical called theobromine which is toxic to them and can actually be fatal. The darker the chocolate the more dangerous it is, so keep those Easter eggs out of reach and ensure that your children don’t share their chocolate goodies with their pet siblings.

Sweets are also a popular Easter treat but these too might be dangerous for your pets, some sweets contain an artificial sweetener called Xylitol, just a small amount can be toxic. In fact, this sweetener is also found in some nut butters, cakes, jams and ice cream too.

Why not make your pets some of their very own Easter treats, there are plenty of recipes for pet treats on the internet. You could get the kids to help you come up with names for them and make them in different Easter shapes. You could even play a pet friendly version of an Easter egg hunt with your furry one, I’m sure they will sniff out those home-made treats in no time at all.

Many of you may have daffodils and lilies in the house over Easter, please take care because they are very dangerous to pets. Daffodils are toxic to dogs and cats; the flowers and leaves can be harmful if ingested. Lilies are highly toxic to cats, it only takes a small amount to be ingested for them to be poisoned. All parts of the plant are toxic, pollen may fall from the flower on to the cat’s coat and be ingested later when they groom themselves, they may eat a petal or even have a drink of water from the vase, this can lead to kidney failure. Kittens are particularly at risk as they explore their environment and can so easily ingest part of the lily. Certain varieties of lily are also dangerous to dogs and rabbits. Rabbits will try anything, so you have to be especially careful what you have in their environment.

Keep the ‘spring’ in everyone’s step and enjoy the lighter nights and warmer days!!!

Always contact your veterinary surgeon if you are ever concerned about your pet or think that they may have ingested something toxic or something that has not agreed with them.