Easter is the biggest chocolate celebration of the year. We’re expected to shell out over £2 billion on our favourite treats.
But sweet-tooth season also poses a risk to your furry friends. Everypaw’s 2024 claims data* shows almost 30% of chocolate ingestion, 21% of poisoning, and 19% of toxicity occur during the Easter period.
Many seasonal items can cause issues for your bunnies, dogs and mogs. We’ve asked our Everypaw vet Dr Anna Foreman to give us the answers to help keep your pet safe this Easter.
5 Common Easter Dangers for Pets
Many of our Easter treats are poisonous to dogs, cats and rabbits. Everypaw’s Pet Insurance claims for chocolate ingestion (75%), poisoning (110%), and toxicity (160%) all increase at this time of year. Here are the main culprits:
1. Chocolate Eggs
Theobromine is a stimulant in chocolate which can be toxic to dogs, cats and rabbits in certain quantities, potentially causing gastrointestinal and neurological toxicity if ingested.
Dark chocolate has more theobromine per gram than milk chocolate. White chocolate does not contain theobromine, however it does have a high levels of fat which can cause pancreatitis in dogs.
2. Hot Cross Buns
Raisins are poisonous to cats and dogs due to the tartaric acid present within them. Grapes also contain this element.
It has only recently been discovered that this is the toxic component of grapes and raisins, allowing better, more efficient treatment of animals who have ingested them.
Some dogs are more prone to toxicity than others, with ingestion potentially leading to renal failure. Raisins are not toxic to rabbits. However, they do contain high levels of sugar and so should not be fed to them.
3. Spring Bulbs
Most spring bulbs are poisonous to rabbits, cats and dogs when ingested, particularly tulips, bluebells, daffodils and crocuses.
Eating the flowers or leaves of these plants can also cause toxicity. Ingestion can result in a gastrointestinal upset and cardiovascular changes at high enough levels.
4. Roast Lamb
Lamb is a very fatty meat and so fed to dogs and cats can lead to pancreatitis, inflammation of the organ of digestion.
Pancreatitis causes vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain, and can be very serious, sometimes requiring hospitalisation to control clinical signs.
5. Foreign Body Ingestion
Dogs may eat non-food items such as wrappers, plushies or plastic toy eggs over the easter period. This may then lead to a gastrointestinal upsets or blockages, or may cause choking on small items which they cannot chew.
Cats and rabbits can also ingest foreign bodies so care should be taken around them too! In these circumstances, it can also be useful to know cat first aid.
What To Do If Your Pet Ingests Something They Shouldn’t
What do you do if your cheeky scamps get into something they shouldn’t?
Do Not Make an Animal Sick at Home
Giving an animal home-made remedies to make them sick can lead to a toxicity in themselves.
They can also be caustic leading to oral/gastrointestinal inflammation and ulceration, and when unregulated, vomiting can lead to aspiration, and subsequent pneumonia developing, particularly in animals who already have respiratory disease.
Additionally, rabbits cannot be made to vomit, and it is difficult to induce emesis in cats – extra care should be taken around these animals.
Call the Vet
Speak to your vet or call the pet poison helpline as soon as ingestion has occurred for advice. An animal may need to be seen to induce emesis, and may require a blood test or further treatment/hospitalisation depending on the toxin eaten.
Check the Chocolate Toxicity Calculator
There is a chocolate toxicity calculator on the Vets Now website which can be used as a guide for an owner based on the % and quantity of chocolate whether a dog or cat needs to be made to be sick
Keeping Your Pet Safe This Easter: Our Top Tips
Our pets are a huge part of the family. So, we want them to be as involved with the seasonal fun as possible. Here are some tips for engaging them safely:
Dog-Friendly Easter Eggs
You can make healthy dog easter treats out of carob – easter eggs can be fashioned out of this in moulds, perfect for dogs to enjoy when joining in with easter egg hunts! Speaking of Easter egg hunts…
Keep Hunts Fun, But Structured
Easter hunts are a great way to keep a dog’s mind active. However, care must be taken not to stress or overstimulate them!
Additionally, when picking out hiding spots for your Easter egg hunt, avoid using your pet’s “safe spaces” (e.g. inside beds, toys or food bowls), as they may become “upset” or “aggressive”.
Avoid the Easter Bonnets
Avoid easter apparel for dogs or cats as they will likely find it stressful and uncomfortable. If you want to include your pets in the seasonal fun, why not get them an Easter toy instead?
Bunnies Are for Life Not Just for Easter
Avoid purchasing an ‘easter bunny’ as a present for the children – rabbits are a huge responsibility, taking up a lot of time and resources to look after properly.
Many rabbits purchased during this period end up being given up to rescue as owners are unaware of their needs.
Prepare Your Pets for the Warmer Weather
It can be warm around easter so make sure that dogs, cats and rabbits have plenty of shade and fresh drinking water to prevent heat stress or stroke.
Brachycephalic dogs (e.g. Pugs, French Bulldogs), cats (e.g. Persians) and bunnies (e.g. Netherland Dwarfs) are particularly at risk. We cover heatstroke in our dog first aid guide.
Make sure rabbits are protected with fly strike treatment when the weather becomes warm around easter – it is early, however still possible, for rabbits to be affected.
Similarly, dogs can be affected by ticks and tick-borne diseases this early in the year.
Everypaw Pet Insurance
Everypaw's Pet Insurance comes with 24/7 unlimited access to vets and vet nurses that can help with your pet's health, care, nutrition and behaviour. So you can rest assured your pet will be well looked after.
*Based on Everypaw claims data from January 2024 to December 2024.