Urgent warning issued to pet owners issued ahead of Easter

Pet owners have been warned to keep an eye on their chocolates throughout the Easter weekend.

Manchester's 24/7 pet emergency hospital Vets Now sees a 53 per cent hike in admissions over the Easter weekend. Meanwhile, it sees a 175 per cent increase in chocolate-related cases when compared to the previous week.

People are being reminded that chocolate can be toxic for dogs and dangerous for cats. Because of this, it's important that confectionaries are kept out of any pet's reach.

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Dr Simon Hagley, Clinical Director at Vets Now Manchester, said: “Just a handful of chocolate can be life-threatening for your dog. With more chocolate likely to be in our homes for Easter treats and egg hunts, it’s even more important for pet owners to be extra careful over the Bank Holiday weekend.”

“Our advice is always to keep chocolate treats well away from your dog. As long as it’s treated early and there’s been no organ damage, the prognosis for chocolate toxicity is generally good. But we’d like to help pet owners avoid a trip to the emergency room over Easter.”

Chocolate contains a chemical known as theobromine which is extremely poisonous and toxic for dogs and cats. The level of risk faced by a dog eating chocolate depends on their size and the density of cocoa.

Because of this, dark chocolate generally poses the highest danger. However, there are still dangerous levels of theobromine in milk chocolate.

While dogs are at a higher risk as they're more likely to eat chocolate, cats are still at risk as well. The first signs of chocolate poisoning to look out for are:

If left unrelated, symptoms can become much more serious, leading to hyperactivity, tremors,