CHRISTMAS is a joyous time of the year for family, friends and pets alike.

But a welcome respite from work with the opportunity to share gifts, overindulge in food and drink, and catch up with old friends is all too often tempered with a hasty trip to the vets.

Whilst Christmas can be an exciting and fun time, many of the features that make Christmas what it is also present a hazard to our pets. A few of the more common ones are listed below.

Chocolate. Most pet owners know that chocolate is toxic to dogs and cats. More specifically, it is a naturally-occurring compound called theobromine in cocoa beans that causes the problem. The darker the chocolate, the more dangerous it is. As a rough rule of thumb, soft-centred milk or white chocolate cannot be consumed in large enough quantities to cause a problem.

Large amounts of milk chocolate can start to cause problems although it is dark chocolate (70 per cent-plus cocoa solids) or baking chocolate that are really harmful.

Again, an approximate guide is that 10g of dark chocolate per kg bodyweight would be serious cause for concern.

Symptoms include vomiting, hyper-excitability, excessive uncontrollable urinating, abnormally fast heart rate leading finally to seizures and death.

Christmas dinner. Whilst small amounts of the Christmas turkey will be much appreciated by your furry friends, watch out for pitfalls. Many game birds (especially ducks and geese) are extremely fatty. Don’t just tip all this excess fat into your dog’s dinner bowl as it will at the very least lead to vomiting and/or diarrhoea and at worst could lead to potentially fatal pancreatitis. Allow the meat juice to settle into fat and jelly and tip the clear jelly/juices into the bowl.

Beware the thief who steals cocktail sausages, only to have to have the cocktail stick removed from their intestines a few hours later.

As always, don’t give any bones, especially lamb or poultry ones to your dog or cat. They can splinter and cause a potentially fatal obstruction.

Raisin and grapes, even in very small quantities, can cause an idiosyncratic, potentially fatal, kidney failure. This can even be happen in dogs that have previously been fed grapes with no apparent ill effects. This also holds true for products containing dried fruit such as the Christmas pud!

Alcohol. We all know the idiot who thinks that it is funny to get their pet drunk by plying it with alcohol. However every year pets get brought into the vet for ‘accidental’ alcohol poisoning. Common pitfalls include liqueur-filled dark chocolate (doubly bad – see above); glasses of moreish drinks such as Baileys; dogs trying to drink out of discarded cans and cutting their tongues; left over pud/trifle soaked in brandy fed to the dog (doubly bad – see above).

Symptoms of excess similar to humans but perhaps without the loss of inhibition!

Christmas gifts. Perhaps this really should be Christmas gift wraps. Tinsel, string, bows, ribbons, plastic bags, bottle tops, corks, plastic ties (the list is endless) all present a hazard. As a rule of thumb don’t leave anything lying around that you wouldn’t be comfortable with a nine-month-old toddler playing with. Not only do they present a choking hazard, but also items such as ribbon or string can cause linear foreign bodies, especially in cats.

Remember that lilies (of all variety), often brought as gifts for the hostess, are very toxic if ingested by cats and cause acute kidney failure.

As a last note. please remember that antifreeze and paracetamol are especially acutely toxic to cats with only very small amounts needed to cause fatal kidney and liver failure.

Here’s hoping that you have a safe and enjoyable Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.