Easter reminder: Chocolate eggs and holiday treats are BAD for pets!

This warning comes up with every holiday, but it bears repeating, as the Easter Bunny brings baskets of candies, chocolate bunnies, gummy treats, foil-wrapped chocolate eggs, peanut butter eggs, jelly beans, and other sweet tooth favorites.

Chocolate is toxic to pets.

Too many cats and dogs (and other pets) wind up in veterinary emergencies, simply because they ate holiday sweets.  Plenty of pets experience dangerous, unpleasant, or painful symptoms, such as:

• blood pressure drops
  
• breathing problems
• diarrhea
• fever
• loss of coordination
• muscle spasms
• racing heartbeat
• seizures
• vomiting

Some pets even die after eating chocolate, usually from cardiac arrest, coma, or organ failure.

Chocolate’s not the only culprit, when it comes to pet dangers from Easter treats. Sugary and sugar-free treats can be poisonous or sickening as well. Jelly beans and gummy bears pose choking dangers in pets, as well as dental problems and sugar-related illness.

And don’t get me started on Marshmallow Peeps.

Cellophane and foil wrappers and the dreaded plastic Easter grass can be choking hazards. If swallowed, these can cause intestinal blockages.

Colorful plastic Easter eggs may seem to be enticing playthings for pets, but they can break into sharp pieces.

Also, Easter lilies are quite toxic to pets.

At the risk of sounding parental (guilty as charged), here's a pet owner pledge for a pet-friendly Easter celebration.

Pet owners: Repeat after me.

1. We will not give our pets (or allow anyone to give our pets) any chocolate or candy this Easter.
2. If we hide plastic Easter eggs, we will make sure our pets cannot get them.
3. We will keep the Easter baskets away from our pets.
4. We will remove Easter candy wrappers from our pets’ reach.
5. We will dispose of leftover hard-boiled Easter eggs and empty eggshells safely.
6. We will keep our pets out of the kitchen and away from the Easter table during our holiday celebration.
7. We will instruct our Easter guests to stow their purses, gift bags, and other possessions out of our pets’ reach.
8. We will stash the trash away from our pets’ access.
9. We will keep Easter toys and decorations away from our pets.
10. We will forgo live lilies and flowers for Easter decorating, or place them where our pets cannot get to them.

Happy Easter, pet lovers!

Image:

Adapted from public domain image

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