An Auckland pet hospital says they’ve seen an increase in cases of dogs becoming ill after eating food meant only for humans over the holidays.
Many people walking their dogs at a popular park told 1News they were aware that bones were a choking hazard.
“That’s quite a big issue, particularly cooked bones because they can be quite dangerous for dogs when they splinter,” one dog owner said.
Apart from choking on bones, there’s another issue giving beloved canines the gift of a vet visit over Christmas and New Year – well-meaning owners feeding them rich or fatty food scraps.
Dr Vicki Lim, a senior vet at Auckland Pet Hospital in Ponsonby said the hospital had up to three animals a day requiring treatment for nausea and vomiting after eating the tasty treats.
“They usually stay for at least two days or so because they need to stay on fluids and get rehydrated,” she told 1News.
Once blood tests were done, vets often detected pancreatitis. The potentially life-threatening condition could result from eating fatty foods, with salmon and ham being the “common culprits” at this time of year.
“The tricky thing with pancreatitis and dogs, unfortunately, is that people will ask if they’ve had any fatty foods and they say, ‘oh yeah, but they’ve had it all the time’,” she said.
“Thankfully, they have been relatively mild cases, but it is something that we see very commonly.”
Barbecues, a staple of the classic Kiwi summer, could also be an issue from fatty meat; corn, which can cause obstructions; and onions, which were toxic.
Grapes and chocolate – particularly the dark variety – could also be poisonous.
“I always tell people it’s like a little bit of Russian Roulette,” Lim said. “The vast majority of the time, you might not have any problems but, when you do, they can end up being quite dramatic.”
Lim said dog owners who were unsure about which foods to avoid could find plenty of useful information online.
“For the vast majority of the time, you’re much better being safer than sorry and not wanting to feed certain things like this.”
One dog owner at the park was aware of the risks, telling 1News her three-year-old dog Tilly “knows not to take food off the table”.
“She’s an important part of our family. We all love her, we all care about her, and we want her to be OK. We don’t want anything bad to happen to her.”
