Take Care at Christmas

It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you “Be of good cheer”
It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
It’s the hap – happiest season of all
With those holiday greetings and gay happy meetings
When friends come to call
It’s the hap – happiest season of all

It’s also a time to eat, drink and be merry. However we do need to take our 4 legged friends into consideration as Christmas can be a very dangerous time of the year.

It is the time of year as a veterinary nurse I almost hang my head and cry due to the amount of emergency cases that we see that can be avoided. You can almost put your money on what the next phone call will be. Most nurses dread being on call over the festive period due to the inevitable carnage we face.

Just because we all tuck into some fabulous fare at this time, our pets should not.  Some of the food we eat can be far too rich for our pets and can consequently cause a nasty bout of diarrhoea or even potentially pancreatitis. Between you and me it is not fun to spend Christmas night clearing up kennel after kennel.

Most veterinary nurses have a cast iron stomach however the following can put the most hardened of nurses off of their Christmas dinner. We all love to see presents under the tree and so does your dog. A pound to a penny they can tell you which presents are edible unfortunately when this is chocolate it can lead to dire consequences. Chocolate contains theobromine which is highly toxic to dogs and can cause vomiting, diarrhoea, seizures and even heart failure. If you are lucky to catch your dog within an hour of eating it we can induce emesis and hopefully remove the offending items. Your dog may need to remain with your vet to receive intravenous fluids and gastro protectants.

Raisins, currant and sultanas are also very highly toxic and can lead to kidney failure, again treatment involves inducing emesis and very aggressive fluids and medication regime.

So please do not put your wrapped chocolate under the tree or where your dog is able to get to them, and make sure all Christmas cake/pudding etc are kept well out of reach as it could be fatal.

The other risk that causes a veterinary nurses heart to sink is Christmas decorations and small children’s toys. Our dogs are fascinated by all the bright shiny objects on the tree and they explore the world with their mouth, so it is only natural they want to put them in their mouth. Unfortunately these items can get lodged in their stomach/intestines and cause a blockage which unfortunately will require surgery to remove.

I would like to ask that at this wonderful time of year you take pity on your hard working and caring veterinary team (so they too can enjoy Christmas) and keep all inappropriate food out of reach of your beloved dog and that you supervise them around decorations and toys (believe me your wallet will thank you as well).

I would like to wish you a very merry healthy Christmas and a happy and safe new year.

Vikki Marshall RVN APHC CertCFVHNut