Pet Care

The day was off to a normal start. The alarm clock rang at 6am. This was Kaiser’s cue he could jump into the big bed for a morning snuggle. Oddly, he didn’t move. I looked down, his little tail was waggling, but his eyes were sad and his ears drooped as if he had done something wrong. I got out of bed and encouraged him to stand. He managed his front half to a sitting position, but he couldn’t move his hind end.

The night before I had gone to a Christmas party. When I returned, I found the remnants of our unopened Christmas present from Hawaii all over the kitchen floor. Kaiser had his own party while we were away and the menu included guava fruit chews, pineapple fruit chews, assorted plastic packaging and a small container of macadamia nuts.

Macadamia nuts are one of the many human foods toxic to dogs. Its common knowledge chocolate is bad for dogs. But there are many other common human foods such as grapes, onions and coffee that are harmful and potentially lethal to pets. Thankfully, Kaiser recovered from his Christmas buffet after a trip to the vet and a couple of hours.

Be very careful if you choose to feed your pets human food.

Here is a partial list of potentially poisonous foods from the Humane Society of the United States.

• Alcoholic Beverages
• Apple seeds
• Apricot pits
• Cherry pits
• Chocolate
• Coffee (Grounds, beans and chocolate covered espresso beans)
• Grapes
• Hops
• Macadamia nuts
• Moldy foods
• Mushroom plants
• Mustard seeds
• Onion and onion powder
• Peach pits
• Potato leaves and stems (green parts)
• Raisins
• Rhubarbs leaves
• Salt
• Tea(caffeine)
• Potato leaves and stems (green parts)
• Walnuts
• Yeast dough

Additional information from the ASPCA Animal Poison Control