Your Easter plans should not include a trip to the emergency pet hospital.

Holiday items may draws smiles from your little ones, but can be dangerous to your pet. You want to make sure they don’t eat or swallow something that can be harmful.

For instance, lilies, including Easter lilies, can make pets sick or kill them.

BluePearl Veterinary Partners offers these tips:

• Chocolate is harmful to dogs. It can induce vomiting, diarrhea and in extreme cases an increased heart rate and seizures. Dogs are even worse than humans at peeling away the armor of foil that encases chocolate Easter eggs and bunnies. A dog’s solution is to wolf down everything, but all that foil could cause a blockage in a dog’s stomach or intestines.

• Don’t assume that sugar-free sweets are safe for pets, especially if they include xylitol. This sweetener shows up in everything from sugar-free chewing gum to some kinds of reduced-fat peanut butters, and it’s 100 times more toxic to dogs than chocolate.

• Pay attention to the plastic grass. . This frilly, stringy stuff is just the kind of thing cats like to play with, but it’s not meant to be swallowed.

• At any big family gathering, someone tends to leave a purse on the floor. Pets treat them like goodie bags, and sometimes gobble down harmful medicines, chewing gum with harmful xylitol, and even e-cigarettes.

• Also, if family and friends stop over, it’s easy for pets to slip outside. Keep track of them, so they don’t get out and get lost.

Related:

Go on the “Good Friday Pilgrimage” with the archdiocese

Guide to Easter brunch

About the Author

Keep Reading

Foo Fighters closed out Shaky Knees 2024 at Central Park with extended versions of their biggest hits. The indie rock festival has moved to Piedmont Park for this weekend's event. (Ryan Fleisher for the AJC)

Credit: Ryan Fleisher

Featured

In this file photo from October 2024, Atlanta Braves outfielder Jorge Soler and teammates react after losing to the San Diego Padres 5-4 in San Diego. The Braves and Soler, who now plays for the Los Angeles Angels, face a lawsuit by a fan injured at a 2021 World Series game at Truist Park in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason.Getz@ajc.com