Christmas Opening Times
Christmas Toxins Unwrapped!
The holiday season is an exciting time, filled with festive foods, gifts, and decorations. While many pet owners are aware of the common toxins, the abundance of new items during this busy period increases the risk of exposure to substances that can be highly toxic to pets. With so many tempting objects around, it’s easy for curious animals to investigate, potentially putting themselves at risk.
Food & Drink
Chocolate: dogs are often the culprits when it comes to sneaking Christmas chocolate. Chocolate contains theobromine, a compound related to caffeine, which is highly toxic to pets. The toxicity increases with the cocoa content, meaning dark chocolate is more dangerous than milk chocolate. Symptoms of chocolate ingestion in dogs include vomiting, diarrhoea, restlessness, and wobbliness.
Sugar-free Products (e.g., Peanut Butter, Candy Canes, Chewing Gum):these items often contain xylitol (E967), a sweetener that is highly toxic to pets. Ingesting
xylitol can cause a rapid drop in blood sugar, leading to weakness, collapse, and potentially seizures. It can also result in liver failure.
Dried Fruits (Raisins, Sultanas, Currants): commonly found in Christmas cakes and mince pies, these fruits are highly toxic to pets. There is no safe threshold—any amount ingested can be toxic and lead to fatal kidney failure. Symptoms to watch for include vomiting and lethargy.
Leftovers Containing Onions or Garlic: ingestion of a single large quantity or repeated small amounts of this substance, whether raw or cooked, is toxic, with cats being particularly susceptible. It can cause damage to their red blood cells leading to anaemia. Clinical signs may begin within 1-2 days but are often delayed for up to 7 days. Symptoms to watch for include vomiting, diarrhoea, drooling, and abdominal pain.
Macadamia Nuts: macadamia nuts can cause lethargy, tremors, and stiffness in pets. While other types of nuts are generally low in toxicity, they can still pose a choking hazard and may cause gastrointestinal upset.
Mouldy Food: even when the Christmas period comes to an end, it is important to ensure it is securely thrown away as mouldy food contains mycotoxins. Clinical signs include restlessness, hyperthermia and even seizures.
Alcohol: never leave alcohol unattended, as pets may ingest it. Even small amounts can cause symptoms like those seen in humans when intoxicated, such as wobbliness, drowsiness, and, in severe cases, seizures.
Gifts & Decorations
Toxic Plants (Poinsettias, Holly, Mistletoe, Ivy, and Potpourri): while these plants are popular during the holidays, they can cause gastrointestinal upset
and discomfort in pets. Symptoms may last several days, so it’s important to keep them out of reach.
Decorations: when decorating your Christmas tree, be cautious of potential hazards. Pets may be drawn to shiny lights, tinsel, and baubles. If chewed or ingested, these decorations can cause cuts, blockages, or even electrocution.
Freshness Sachets or Silica Gel: many dried food items, including dog treats and jerky, as well as certain gifts, contain freshness packets that absorb moisture or oxygen. Silica gel packets are generally non-toxic but can cause gastrointestinal upset if ingested. However, iron oxygen absorbers are highly toxic and corrosive to the gastrointestinal tract and can lead to liver failure. Symptoms of poisoning include vomiting and abdominal pain.
Batteries: remember to keep batteries for Christmas toys and gadgets out of reach of your pets. Pets may be tempted to chew or swallow them, potentially causing significant damage to the mouth or gastrointestinal tract.
If you’re concerned that your pet has ingested something dangerous, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01606 880890 or 01606 717969.
Brave Pet of the Month….Mitzy!
Mitzy’s owners came to see us at Hollybank in October because they were worried about her heart. On a few occasions at home, they had heard her heart beating very loudly which is very unusual to experience without a stethoscope!
We already knew Mitzy had a heart condition called mitral valve disease which had been diagnosed by our visiting cardiologist by an echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart).This condition is where the mitral valve becomes thickened and will leak blood back into the left atrium of the heart. This backwards flow of blood is turbulent and produces the noise we hear and call a heart murmur. The backwards flow causes an increased volume of blood in the left atrium, which leads to an enlargement of the chamber as the heart tries to compensate. Once the heart can no longer compensate, congestive heart failure may develop as fluid builds up in the lungs.
Mitzy’s last echocardiogram was in February of this year and showed Mitzy was compensating well, did not yet require any medications and she was due for a routine echocardiogram in November. However, when we listened to Mitzy’s heart, initially, a normal heart rate was heard, but then Mitzy’s heartbeat sped up and grew louder for about 10 seconds. This made us concerned that Mitzy was experiencing runs of tachycardia (increased heart rate), and during these times, her heart was unlikely to be working efficiently.
We started some medications to improve the contractility of Mitzy’s heart and planned for her to see the cardiologist that week. Mitzy had repeat echocardiography, an electrocardiogram (ECG) to look at her heart rhythm, blood pressure measurements and a blood test to rule out certain causes of the tachycardia i.e electrolyte imbalances. The blood pressure and blood tests were normal.
However, the ECG revealed an arrhythmia and runs of tachycardia up to 220 beats per minute! A normal heart rate for a dog is around 80-120. To see how frequently these were happening throughout the day, a 24-hour Holter ECG monitor was fitted to Mitzy’s chest. The Holter had lots of wires that stuck to Mitzy’s chest, so she had to wear a body suit and a buster collar to make sure she didn’t chew them! As always, Mitzy was a perfect patient and kept her holter on the whole time despite her not looking very impressed with us!
The Holter report showed that the periods of tachycardia were happening frequently, so antiarrhythmic medication was required to try and correct this. Two weeks after starting the medication a new Holter ECG monitor would be repeated to assess her response. Shortly after starting the medications, Mitzy’s owner noticed an improvement at home in her – she seemed to have more energy and her heartbeat had only been heard once when she had got excited.
When Mitzy had her repeat holter fitted the ECG readings had improved on the medication but there were still some abnormalities. To try to better control Mitzy’s arrhythmia the cardiologist decided to try a different type of anti-arrhythmic medication and Mitzy is soon due to have her third Holter ECG monitor fitted.
Hopefully, the next ECG will show even more improvement but in the mean time we felt Mitzy deserved to be this month’s very brave pet!