TRANSCRIPT
They're cute, they're cuddly, they're part of the family.
But when they come through the doors of Melbourne's Lort Smith Animal Hospital, they can be pretty unwell.
And however cute the patients are, vets at the hospital, like Dr James McGregor, are asking pet owners to take extra care this Easter weekend to avoid a surprise visit.
"The most important things really are just keeping those sweet treats chocolates, anything with raisins - so hot cross buns especially - away from your dogs. And also for cats as well, Easter lilies pose probably the biggest risk - so keeping those away from you cat. To be honest not even having them in the house is ideal."
And foods indulging an Easter sweet tooth - aren't the only danger.
Raw fish ... cooked bones ... grapes ... onions and garlic... corn on the cob ... nuts and meat trimmings ... Dr McGregor says they all have the potential to put pets in harm's way.
"So we've seen a really wide range of cases to be honest with you. From mild vomiting and diarrhoea - to more severe instances where they've been in hospital for weeks with you know kidney issues. And the kidneys they don't re-generate - once that damage is done."
The advice to pet owners: keep a watchful eye on furry friends - and also keep a look out for a visit from the Easter bunny this weekend.
While the children may not find all the chocolate you've hidden - never underestimate the tenacity of your average pet to hunt down and eat forbidden sweet treats.
"You know you have got your labradors - they will do anything to grab that sweet treat off the side of the table. So it's really important to keep in mind those things - and they will try and outsmart us!"
Dr Simone Maher is the chief veterinary officer for insurance company PetSure.
She told Channel Nine that owners have to make a real effort to keep the forbidden foods under lock and key.
"Putting them just on a table or something is just not enough. They've really got to be put away in a cupboard because they'll smell those delicious treats out."
Another vet, Megan Brashear says the amount of the wrong sort of food and the size of the pet will govern how bad the reaction is - but you'll soon know if your pet is in trouble:
"We'll tend to see signs in these patients about one to four hours post-ingestion . That's not a hard and fast rule but that's about the time that you're going to look for problems. First, we'll see GI (gastrointestinal) distress. In these more mild reactions, these animals are going to be vomiting and probably have diarrhoea. What really gets concerning about these guys is that the methylxanthines actually increase the calcium content inside the cell; and it increases cell excitability. So we start to see these muscle tremors and we can actually cardiac arrhythmias because of the chocolate that the animal has eaten."
But if despite all precautions, your pet does manage to get hold of a forbidden food, Simone Maher says the advice is simple.
"Well, the first thing you need to do is to contact your vet and there are some pieces of information that can be really helpful to work out how much danger your pet is in: and that's your dog's approximate weight. And if you can, what sort of chocolate they ate, the darker the chocolate, the more dangerous, the less they need to eat. So if you can provide that sort of information - that can be super helpful.
