Christmas pudding a poison for pooches

Christmas is the season for giving, but Australian animal-lovers have been warned to keep festive delicacies such as plum pudding, chocolate and gravy-laden meats away from their pets.

Dog owners should think twice before giving into doe-eyed looks from under the Christmas table if they want to avoid an emergency visit to a veterinary surgery, Australia's Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) said.

Seemingly innocuous human treats such as chocolate are a potential pet killer, RSPCA president Hugh Wirth said yesterday.

"Most vets would try and evacuate (pump) the stomach when they know the dog has recently eaten a great deal of chocolate," Mr Wirth told Reuters from his Melbourne veterinary practice.

Fatty foods can also trigger life-threatening gastro-intestinal upsets and an inflammatory response in the pancreas in pets.

Mr Wirth said fatty foods can leave a dog "in a state of collapse, vomitting and diarrhoea, very high fever and extreme abdominal pain".

Animals should be fed appropriate pet food that they are used to, even on special occasions, and "not all this exotic stuff or scraps that you happen to have because its Christmas time and you're eating high on the hog", Mr Wirth said.

Dog-owners should also be vigilant as pups eagerly steal any food carelessly left unattended. "At this time of year, when they raid the table they're raiding rich food which is not normal daily fare for us. That's where the problem arises," Mr Wirth said.