This is Freddy. Several weeks ago he was a very poorly little doggy. So poorly, his owners nearly lost him. You see, Freddy decided to eat a packet of chewing gum. He probably just wanted freshen his breath a little. What he didn’t realise, however, is that chewing gum contains Xylitol – a common sugar substitute found in sugar-free products. Only a tiny amount of this substance can cause serious harm. Depending on the concentration and the size of the dog, just one stick of chewing gum is enough to make a dog critically ill.

This is exactly what happened to Freddy. He was rushed to the vets and spent the next two days on a drip. Things didn’t end there. Once his blood sugars were back under control, the next problem was getting him to eat. Try as they might, his owners simply couldn’t get the little fella to take any food.

Just as things were looking truly bleak, local pet baker Rebecca Throw came to the rescue. She prepared a special doggy cupcake for Freddy made out of all natural ingredients including chicken breast and topped off with mashed potato. Freddy needed no encouragement. He ate the lot and was soon back on the road to recovery.

Without Rebecca’s cupcake, there’s no doubt he would have been off to the big kennel in the sky.

Freddy was lucky – and his great escape serves as a timely cautionary tale this Christmas. Dogs are curious things and right now there are often lots of interesting things piled under the tree. Some of them smell irresistible. Unfortunately, for dogs, they can also prove highly poisonous. Chocolate in particular, can cause serious problems – as can certain types of nuts, raisins and grapes. Given a chance most pooches won’t hesitate to eat a full box of choccies or a whole chocolate orange. Make sure you keep them out of reach of furry noses.

If you want to give your pets a treat this Christmas, consider getting in touch with Rebecca. She makes lots of different types of treats for pets – including vegan cake jars, cupcakes and full sized birthday cakes! Details below.

Have a very waggy tail Christmas!

And finally…