It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

As preparations for Christmas gather speed, remember there are some things we humans may love, but our furry friends need to avoid, so keep them out of reach of curious dogs - here's a quick checklist that we at Healthy Paws have put together:

Foods

• Christmas Cake
• Christmas Pudding
• Chocolate Raisins
• Grapes
• Sweets and Chocolate
• Alcohol
• Macadamia Nuts
• Coffee
• Salt

Foods containing wheat like:

• Yorkshire Pudding
• Gravy thickened with cornflour

Cleaning Products

Lots of friends gathered enjoying Christmas combined with more than usual to eat and drink can lead to more spillages - just remember to look at the label on your cleaning products before dousing your floor in them.

There's a reason that some brands highlight the fact that they are not to be used around animals. Well respected products like Dettol for example, contain both ammonia and phenols - you don't want your dog or cat to pad across a floor cleaned with it, only to lick its paws and absorb the poisons.

Overeating 

Remember, your dog's stomach is like a concertina, it cannot easily get full so it will keep accepting treats and titbits, and that leads to digestive problems and more mess than usual to clean up. Keeping your dog's nutrition stable means a happy, healthy dog.