Pet charity in Wiltshire warns of Easter risk to dog health
The Dogs Trust is urging dog owners to keep their pets away from chocolate over the Easter weekend
An animal charity in Wiltshire is warning dog owners to keep their four-legged friends away from chocolate over the Easter weekend.
Chocolate is toxic to dogs and can lead to serious health issues if consumed.
Victoria Phillips is a vet surgeon with the Dogs Trust, which has a rehoming centre in Newton Tony.
She explained to us what makes it so dangerous to our pets: "It contains an ingredient called theobromine which dogs can't digest properly.
It can cause vomiting and diarrhoea and, if they eat large quantities, it can cause more severe symptoms like seizures, and it can also be fatal if they eat enough."
Victoria added that owners should be mindful that symptoms might not be noticeable straight away.
She stressed: "Don't wait for any symptoms to start. If you think that your dog's eating chocolate, get them seen as soon as possible."
Victoria said we should get our dog to a vet immediately if we think our pet has eaten any chocolate.
We're also warned that sultanas, raisins and grapes, which are common at this time of year, should also be kept away from pets.
Victoria said that we need to give vets as much information about what a dog has eaten as we can.
"If you've got the wrappers and the cocoa concentration and the quantity of cocoa and chocolate in whatever it is the dog's eaten, take that with you to the vet or use that over the phone to discuss with them, and then they can calculate the level of toxicity for the size of your dog," she said.
Victoria said owners should work on teaching or reinforcing the "leave it" command to help keep our dogs away from harmful foods.
If we want to include our pet in the Easter celebrations, Victoria advised using canine specific dog chocolates, although we should check with our vet if we're not sure.
Alternatives are using our pet's favourite treats or bits of carrot or cucumber.