With Christmas just around the corner, we’re sure you’ve been organising all those special gifts for your loved ones, family and friends. But while shopping for your favourite person can sometimes be a tricky task, finding something for your four-legged best friend can be just as difficult.
With the festive fun fast-approaching, several vets across the world have released warnings about gifts for your dogs, pups and pooches – and how to ensure they have just as magical of a Christmas day as you.
It’s always good to give your dogs chews and treats free from artificial colours and flavourings.
Several chew toys dyed red and green are actually deemed harmful for your dogs, with the rawhide glued into fun shapes and sizes coated in artificial colouring that isn’t good for your pooches. The treats are often soaked in a toxic sodium sulphide, which removes the hair and fat from the hide. This harsh chemical splits the bone, with those fractures then washed to give them a cleaner complexion and rid the hide of its smell.
The festive artificial colours then lacquered onto the treat cause choking and intestinal blockages.
Dr Alena Dowdeoo from Pets and their People advises against letting your four legged friends playing with children’s toys, especially those with strings, as these may cause obstructions.
More things to watch out for your pups and pooches for Christmas is the rich food that can upset your dogs stomach. While the holiday season is all about indulging, certain foods can be harmful for our furry best friends.
Dr Dowdeoo says that although Christmas is a time of giving and showing love to humans through food, sharing food with our dogs can have serious health consequences.
While gnawing on the bone from the roast chicken may sound like a delicious past time for your dog, cooked bones weaken in the heat and can easily splinter. This can do serious damage to your fur babies mouth and intestines.
“Cooked bones and fat off cuts can be dangerous for dogs…chocolate, sultanas and anything with garlic can also be toxic,” Dr Dowdeoo said.
“People think they’re doing them a favour, but they’re not and it can be very dangerous.”
Searching for something safe to give your pup this Christmas? Vets recommend skinless white meat like chicken and turkey, eggs, potatoes and vegetables as a safe alternative for your dogs Christmas lunch and treats.
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