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Easter goodies not good for pets

The advice comes sometime between Lent and Good Friday that Easter-day pets are a bad idea, for many reasons. Unscrupulous breeding practices may mean health problems. They grow up fast, and so does the kid’s responsibility as a pet owner.

But Easter isn’t without its pitfalls for our traditional furry friends, either. This means extra care about their safety, and how to handle the holiday mishaps if they happen.

According to ASPCA clinical toxicologist Rose Ann Gould Soloway, “Family pets can be as curious as children,” said Rose Ann Gould Soloway, a clinical toxicologist for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “(Whether it’s) cats swallowing tinsel, dogs eating chocolate, and both getting into Aunt Sally’s purse, pets need to be watched as closely as children.”

Among substances toxic to pets are items harmless to humans, and often part of holiday observances, items like raisins, grapes, and macadamia nuts. This prompted the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center to come with a list of four most common Easter dangers for pets: chocolate, plastic Easter grass, lilies and fertilizers and herbicides.

Cindy and Herschel Arnold of Pet Logic in Clovis warned of all four, and Cindy Arnold singled out dark chocolate as the most dangerous.

Easter baskets full of chocolate critters and fake grass should be kept away from dogs and cats. Dr. Logan Potts of Clovis Veterinary Hospital pointed out that Easter grass attracts cats because it is vertical and usually in motion. These slender pieces of plastic can cause severe gastrointestinal damage.

Regarding chocolate, Potts said the food acts as nervous system toxin and a cardio-vascular toxin for cats and dogs. Additionally, he said, “Lilies are kidney toxins.”

If the precautions fail, and the pet gets sick, it’s not too late. Experts say to pay heed if the pet is acting differently than usual, with particular attention to diarrhea, vomiting, agitation, appetite loss or increased thirst.

People with pet issues are advised to call a veterinarian as soon as possible, and a poison control hotline if that is unsuccessful. Hotlines, with some requiring payment via credit or debit card, include:

• Pet Poison Control: 1-800-222-1222,

• Pet Poison Hotline: 1-855-213-6680,

• Pet Poison Hotline: 1-855-764-7661,

• ASPCA Poison Control Center: 1-888-426-4435.

 
 
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