The Newcastle Animal Referral and Emergency Centre (NAREC) at Broadmeadow has recently discharged Max, a 1 year-old golden retriever after underwent surgery to remove to skewer sticks from his stomach after he got a hold of them in the chaos of a family get together.
NAREC CEO Wendy Fisher says chocolate is also rather toxic to dogs and "certainly the more pure the cocoa, dark chocolate is more toxic than milk chocolate".
"Another hazard is tinsel and particularly cats like to play with tinsel and swallow it and that can cause a nasty effect in the intestines and cause rupture of the intestines in severe cases".
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| Keep their paws off hazardous food and ornaments |
"Grapes and raisins can cause kidney failure in dogs, we don't know the mechanism and the toxic dose is not known".
Pet owners are also urged to be wary of the dangers of leftover Christmas ham or turkey fat.
More details on other common hazards for pets over Christmas can be found on the NAREC website.
