An astounding third of pet owners will experience an emergency this festive season.
And the UK’s leading pet emergency service, Vets Now will see a 79% rise in cases around Christmas and New Year as worried pet owners battle with the unexpected dangers of Christmas – with everything from accidental ingestion of raisins from eating mince pies to fairy light and candle burns.
Vets Now’s 60+ emergency clinics and hospitals up and down the country are bracing themselves for the festive emergency season with additional vets and vet nurses on shift and stockpiling extra clinical supplies and medicine.
In four of Vets Now’s emergency clinics, vets are also preparing by putting up some extra special Christmas trees this December.
Emergency pet clinics and hospitals in Manchester, Glasgow, Newport and a new pet hospital, Blaise, in Birmingham will each have a ‘wish tree’, provided by online home furnishings retailer, Wayfair.
Pet owners will be able to donate £1 to the national charity StreetVet by placing a bauble on the tree with their handwritten Christmas wish. All funds raised will go directly to StreetVet, which delivers free veterinary care to the pets of people experiencing homelessness across the UK. To find out more about the work StreetVet does visit www.streetvet.org.uk.
With over 20 million pet cats and dogs in the UK, Vets Now 60+ emergency clinics and hospitals up and down the country are already preparing themselves for the festive emergency season ahead. Dave Leicester, a leading emergency vet who looks after the Video Vets Now service said:
“During the festive season, our emergency vets and nurses are true heroes, standing ready to support pet owners in their time of need. Christmas, a time of joy and celebration, can also bring unexpected challenges for our furry companions. Our emergency vets and nursing teams across the country work tirelessly over the busy festive season, to be there for worried owners when they need it most.
“From festive food and drink to decorations and even gifts, our homes harbour a myriad of potential hazards for pets at Christmas, and our caseload rises significantly over the festive season.”
Last year alone there was a 66% increase in emergency calls to Vets Now at Christmas, with emergency admissions soaring by 79% throughout the festive period.
In particular, emergency teams across the country dealt with 958 cases of dogs ingesting chocolate and 667 cases of them eating mince pies – both can be poisonous to dogs. Across the festive season dogs and cats also ended up in the emergency room for accidental ingestions of tinsel (15 cases), eating chocolate wrappers (115 cases), advent calendars (20 cases) and Christmas puddings (19 cases)
Dave added: We are encouraging pet owners to be aware of the hidden hazards and ensure festive treats don’t turn into festive treatment.”
