If you’re planning to share a hot cross bun with your furry friend this Easter, think again. A vet from The Animal Referral Hospital (ARH) in Brisbane took to Facebook this week to school dog owners on the dangers of the Easter treat, which is in fact toxic to dogs.
“Unfortunately hot cross buns are toxic to dogs and it’s the inoffensive sultana that causes all the trouble,” the vet said in the post.
Even a small amount of grapes and raisins can cause acute kidney failure for dogs and in the worse cases, be lethal.
The vet referred to a recent case when a dog named Ellie had to be rushed to hospital after eating raisins .
“While they don’t know what the toxic substance in grapes is, scientists do agree that it is both the flesh and the skin that is poisonous to dogs.”
ARH explained how young pup Ellie found out “the hard way” when she ingested an entire loaf of raisin bread. Ellie’s owners rushed her to ARH once they discovered what she ate.
Read more: 8 foods you should and shouldn’t feed your dog
Despite her cheerful mood, the vet said if left untreated Ellie would likely have, “developed symptoms of kidney failure such as vomiting, diarrhoea, weakness, increased thirst and abdominal pain”.
“We helped Ellie to bring up the contents of her stomach and monitored the function of her kidneys through blood tests,” she explained.
Ellie was placed on a drip for 24 hours to help “rebalance” her body fluids and was also given activated charcoal, “which traps toxins and chemicals in the body allowing them to be flushed out and not reabsorbed”.
“As tasty as they look it’s best that your furry mate keeps clear of hot cross buns this Easter!” ARH advised.
Sharing Easter eggs and chocolates with dogs is also a bad a idea, as chocolate contains two ingredients potentially lethal to dogs — theobromine and caffeine. If you suspect your dog has eaten chocolate, take them to a local vet immediately. Remember that, and you’ll have a lovely Easter with your beloved four-legged pal.
With Facebook removing news sites from your feeds we ask that you sign up for Starts at 60’s emailers here. And to keep us on your wall, join some of our new Facebook groups and clubs:
See news on the change and links to all our other clubs and groups here.