Daisy's Close Christmas Call
by Graham Peck
Daisy a treat mad seven year old labrador managed to give everybody an anxious night after devouring a 2kg box of chocolates including the wrappers, a half kilogram of dog treats and a chocolate orange.
That amount of chocolate is more than enough to kill even a chunky labrador. Unfortunately many people do not realise chocolate can be lethal for dogs.
Daisy's owner was aware of the dangers of chocolate. "Daisy spends a number of days a week at a nursing home and we have to be very careful about her being fed chocolates." Despite this vigilance, the problem this time happened at home. The box of chocs and chocolate orange (her owner's Christmas presents) plus the dog treats (Daisy's Christmas present) had been wrapped and carefully stored away on a high shelf. As Daisy's owner said "I had popped out for less than an hour and during that time Daisy managed to scale the shelves and drag down all the presents". On returning Daisy's owner found her surrounded by wrapping paper and already starting to look unwell.
Realising the seriousness of the situation her owner rapidly got her down to the Parkvets Veterinary Hospital. Given a potent drug to induce vomiting, Daisy apparently delivered up the "stolen" goods in a prolonged, messy and spectacular fashion over a large area of the hospital floor.
Hospitalised over night, Daisy was carefully monitored for the onset of any signs of toxicity. Happily due to the prompt action of her owner and the therapeutic vomiting session, Daisy went home the following day with no more than a guilty conscience.
The Warning
Sadly almost every Christmas and Easter we see this story repeated, sometimes with fatal consequences. We cannot stress the seriousness of this problem. Chocolate kills dogs.
This story shows that even where responsible owners appreciate the potential danger, they must still make every effort to ensure that pets cannot get access to chocolate.
Be aware during the coming weeks of Christmas that family and friends may well leave opened or partly eaten chocolates around your home and remember the Daisy's of this world just can't help themselves.
