Treating your dog with a little leftover barbeque meat can be deadly, according to veterinarian Dr Danielle Haack.
She is warning people to avoid overfeeding their pets with inappropriate food over the Christmas break.
“There’s lots of food are treats for us, but toxic and potentially even fatal for pets,” Dr Haack said.
“Occasional small treats are fine, but dogs really need a quality, nutritionally balanced diet every day of the year to maintain optimum health inside and out.”
Feeding pets ordinary foods that may not be harmful to humans may have catastrophic health impacts. “One piece of bacon [for pets] is the same as if we sat down for 13 pieces of bacon,” she said. “If you give your pet something that’s too high in fat, your pet could get something called Pancreatitis.”
According to her Christmas is particularly bad time for food related problems. “Even today I was out talking to a vet and they said they’re not going to have a Christmas break because it’s the busiest time of the year with all the parties and fiestas.”
Feeding dogs leftover barbeque meat and bones were among the common causes behind injuries. “Another example is leftovers from barbeques … those bones can shatter and may need to be removed by surgery,” she said.
“I’ve removed, and seen the removal of, many things from pets. Like pigs feet, chicken kebab skewers, shattered bones, half a tennis ball and even sticks stuck in the bones.”
She also warned against feeding alcohol to pets – something that is also more common around Christmas. “The thing people need to realise is that dogs aren’t little people. Their metabolism is very, very different. Dogs and cats digest things differently and so the effects of alcohol are intensified on them – their body is just not designed to take alcohol in.”
“Give them a nice beefy stock stew rather than alcohol,” Dr Haack added.
by Ehssan Veiszadeh
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