Holiday merriment includes tasty treats such as chocolate and turkey, but it's a different story for your pets. Winnipeg veterinarian Dr. Jonas Watson explains the dangers they face from certain holiday foods.

Dr. Jonas Watson provides guidance on how pet owners can prevent their animals from ingesting harmful items commonly found during the holiday season. He highlights the dangers posed by chocolate, ribbon, tinsel, certain meats, holiday plants, and additives in Christmas tree water, explaining the health risks and necessary veterinary interventions for each.

The advice includes monitoring pets around hazardous foods and decorations, seeking prompt veterinary care if ingestion occurs, and being cautious with holiday plants and tree stand water. Dr. Watson emphasizes the importance of keeping pets safe and supervised during busy holiday periods to avoid emergencies.

How to protect your pet during the holiday season

Hi, I'm Dr. Jonas Watson, and here's what you can do to protect your animal from eating inappropriate things during the holiday season. A box of chocolates, dark chocolates, the baking chocolates, those are the ones that have high levels of caffeine and theobromine in them which can cause excitability and hyperactivity, increased heart rate, tremors, seizures, stomach upset, that sort of thing in dogs. That animal should probably see a veterinarian to induce vomiting and perhaps decontaminate them depending on how much they've consumed. They may have to go on supportive treatments like IV fluids and perhaps gastro protectives. Ribbon and tinsel. They'll enjoy these things, chew on them, swallow them, and then these long string or ribbon type foreign bodies will get stuck in the gastrointestinal tract. Sometimes they'll anchor in one spot and anchor in another, and then you've got these intestines that sort of slide over these very hard, plasticky, you know, non-destructible kind of items in their stomach, and that can lacerate the intestines, cause very serious problems. We may have to take x-rays to see just how problematic that ribbon and tinsel is. Some of these animals need emergency surgery. Turkey or ham. Raw meats can pose risks in terms of infectious diseases like salmonella, and the consumption of carcasses like turkeys and chickens can lead to bad gastrointestinal problems, including bones getting stuck inside the gastrointestinal tract. Holiday plants like mistletoe and poinsettias. Cats and dogs chewing on the leaves of certain holiday plants can lead to oral irritation and stomach upset that may require a visit to the vet. Some people put additives into the water of Christmas tree stands that can be toxic or problematic for animals, so do be aware, and that everybody needs to be kept sort of safe and attended to during this busy time of year.

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