Keep Your Pets Safe This Summer: BBQ and Picnic Hazards to Avoid

Has your furry friend been eyeing off the sausages on the BBQ? Summer means long weekends, backyard gatherings, and plenty of delicious food. While we're enjoying the sunshine and good company, our pets are often right there with us, hoping for a tasty treat to come their way.

But many of the foods we love at summer BBQs and picnics can be dangerous, or even life-threatening, for our cats and dogs. At Kaimai Vets, we want to help pet owners across Matamata keep their companions safe and healthy throughout the summer season. Understanding which foods pose risks and knowing what to offer instead can make all the difference to your pet's wellbeing.

The Dangers Lurking on Your BBQ Plate

Summer gatherings mean tables laden with food, and pets are experts at looking adorable when they want a snack. However, several common BBQ foods can cause serious harm to dogs and cats.

• Cooked bones are one of the biggest hazards. You might think a leftover ham bone or lamb chop bone would be a perfect treat for your dog, but cooked bones become brittle and can splinter easily. These sharp fragments can pierce your pet's mouth, throat, stomach, or intestines, leading to painful injuries, blockages, or even life-threatening internal damage. This includes bones from chicken, beef, lamb, and pork. Raw bones are safer, but cooked bones should never be given to pets.
• Onions and garlic, often found in marinades, sausages, and salads, are toxic to both cats and dogs. These ingredients damage red blood cells, which can lead to anaemia. Even small amounts over time can build up and cause problems, so it's important to keep any food containing onions or garlic well away from your pets.
• Chocolate is a well-known danger, but it's worth repeating because it's often present at gatherings in the form of desserts, biscuits, or treats. Chocolate contains theobromine, a substance that dogs and cats cannot process effectively. Dark chocolate and cocoa powder are particularly dangerous. Even small amounts can cause vomiting, diarrhoea, rapid heart rate, seizures, and in severe cases, death.

Fatty Foods and Rich Treats

Your dog might love the smell of sizzling sausages and fatty cuts of meat, but these rich, greasy foods can cause serious digestive upset. Fatty foods can trigger pancreatitis, a painful and potentially dangerous inflammation of the pancreas. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, lethargy, and loss of appetite. Pancreatitis can develop quickly and requires urgent veterinary attention.

Ham, bacon, and processed meats are also high in salt, which can lead to excessive thirst, urination, and in severe cases, sodium poisoning. Keep these foods out of reach, and remind your guests not to slip your pet any sneaky treats from their plates.

Other Common Picnic Hazards

• Grapes and raisins are extremely toxic to dogs and can cause sudden kidney failure. Even a small handful can be dangerous, so keep fruit salads, cakes, and trail mixes well away from your pets.
• Corn on the cob is another hidden danger. While a few kernels of corn are generally safe, the cob itself can cause a serious blockage if swallowed. Dogs in particular may try to gulp down a cob whole, which can lead to an emergency situation requiring surgery.
• Avocado contains a substance called persin, which can cause vomiting and diarrhoea in dogs and cats. Keep guacamole and avocado salads out of reach.
• Alcohol should never be given to pets, even as a joke. Dogs and cats are much more sensitive to alcohol than humans, and even small amounts can cause vomiting, disorientation, breathing problems, and potentially coma or death.
• Macadamia nuts are toxic to dogs and can cause weakness, vomiting, tremors, and hyperthermia (overheating). Keep nut mixes, biscuits, and slices containing macadamias away from your dog.