How do you take care of the health of dogs and cats during the Christmas period?

Easter is approaching, a time of family gatherings, good food, rest and great joy. How do you spend these days so that you are also healthy for our family of four? Many Easter delicacies are harmful to dogs and cats, so it is important that owners know what to look for to ensure their pets are safe during Easter.

Easter is inherently associated with feasting in the company of loved ones, which undoubtedly also includes our four-legged friends. What is delicious and healthy for humans may not be right for our pets. Here’s what to keep at the Easter table when dogs and cats are with us.

Easter dishes

Breakfast and Easter dinner traditionally mean a lot of grilled meats and fatty foods with the addition of garlic and onions, so it’s important not to feed your pet cut-offs from the table. A high-fat diet can lead to digestive disorders and even severe pancreatitis in pets. In contrast, garlic and onions can cause gastrointestinal irritation, anemia, and kidney failure. Bones should also never be fed to pets, as they can cause damage to the mouth (such as teeth or gums) and lead to intestinal obstruction.

Sweets for the Easter table … and more

Keep Easter cakes, mazurks and other pastries away from our pets. What we associate with Christmas dishes for our animals is often not recommended: cocoa, raisins, macadamia nuts, xylitol. The latter is an artificial sweetener found in many foods, especially puddings, sweets, cakes, and gum. Xylitol may lead to hypoglycaemia and liver failure. Therefore, it is always important to keep human food out of the reach of animals.

Sweets can be found not only on the Easter table, but also in various unexpected places. Playing in search of hidden chocolate eggs, for example in the garden, is a tradition that came to us from Germany and causes a lot of emotions especially for children. However, we must remember to be especially careful during it, if accompanied by animals.

– Chocolate is toxic to dogs and cats. It contains theobromine which can cause vomiting, diarrhea and even kidney failure. Eating a larger dose of chocolate at one time and eating small portions over a longer period of time is dangerous because theobromine builds up in the animal’s body. The more cocoa a particular product contains, the more harmful it is to our pet. For example, dark chocolate or cake coating is more dangerous than milk chocolate. If your pet has eaten chocolate candy, contact your vet for help – says Małgorzata Głowacka, a veterinarian and scientific expert in animal nutrition at Mars Polska.

Safe alternative

In order for Christmas to be a fun time for the whole family, including those with four legs, it is worth following a regular, complete and balanced diet of your pet. When we sit down at the Easter table, let’s make sure our dogs and cats get the right animal treats. Such treatments can support the animal’s health. Examples include dental snacks that take care of the cleanliness of the teeth and gums of quadrupeds, and those that meet their natural behavioral needs, such as dog chewing and biting, or the hunting instinct of cats.

In order to make the animal happy, we must reward our quadrupeds with what is best for them – with caress, fun, delicious foods and time spent together.