Dangerous Easter Dog Foods

April 09, 2020By Nicola Withers

Happy Easter to you and your dogs! This year’s bank holiday weekend might be a bit different due to the impact of the Coronavirus, but it’s still Easter. And that usually goes hand in hand with chocolate eggs and bunnies, hot cross buns, lots of tinfoil and sweets hidden in the garden. Lovely for the humans but not for your favourite furry family member.

For dogs at Easter it presents a myriad of opportunities to 'sweep up' anything that is dropped on the floor, undiscovered in the garden, and of course, family members offering their human goodies to their beloved woof.

So it's good to be aware of what might do harm to your furball over the Easter festivities when it comes to food.

Things to Avoid at Easter:

Chocolate

Do not let your dog have any chocolate! Chocolate contains a chemical called theobromine, which can be poisonous to dogs, as well as many other animals, including cats, rodents and rabbits.

As a general rule, darker chocolate with a higher cocoa content has more theobromine and is therefore more poisonous. But all chocolate has high levels of fat and can make dogs poorly. The bottom line? Dogs and chocolate are a bad combination.

Side effects: Vomiting and diarrhoea. Also, muscle twitching, tremors and fitting: chocolate is a stimulant which can increase the heart rate and blood pressure.

Hot Cross Buns

Grapes, raisins, currants and sultanas are all toxic to dogs. Dried fruits, such as those found in hot cross buns, are more dangerous than grapes. We don’t know why or how much is toxic – some dogs only need to ingest one to suffer very serious effects while others aren’t affected at all.

If your dog has eaten any quantity of dried fruit, contact your vet straightaway. (My dog recently ate 150g of chocolate raisins. After a weekend spent at the vets he was ok. But that turned out to be an expensive bag of sweets.)

Side effects: Stomach problems and kidney failure. This can be delayed by up to three days and may first be noticeable as a decrease in urination, or your dog may seem sluggish and have an increased thirst.

Foil wrappers

It’s not ideal for your pup to eat any non-food substance and foil is no exception. Always remember, many dogs love human food, and they’re often willing to choke down a fair bit of inedible material if it means getting the chance to enjoy something delicious.

Side effects: Very small amounts will probably pass through, but balls of foil could cause an intestinal blockage. And foil coated chocolate is obviously a no go.

Easter Egg Hunts

All families love an Easter Egg Hunt and as we’re currently staying at home, yours is likely to be either in your house or garden.

We’d recommend making a note of where you hide all the Easter treats and if they’re not discovered by the children (unlikely!), make sure you go round afterwards and collect any that are missed before your Easter puppy beats you to it!

Side effects: All of the above

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