Suffering burns from a fireplace, swallowing pine needles and drinking alcohol are some of the accident’s British pets have endured over previous festive seasons, reveals new research by Vester.

Over half of British pet owners (54%) admitted that their animals have been injured over holidays past, as vets urge owners to be on guard this year. 

The findings by the digital platform which connects licensed veterinarians with pet owners, virtually, showed that top injuries over the festive season included pets playing and eating baubles (17%), followed by fur babies eating food they shouldn't (14%). Pets getting distressed by too many guests were also top of the list, followed by pets climbing Christmas trees (11%) and ripping open presents under the Christmas tree (11%). 

Moreover, 5% of owners have caught their animal’s drinking alcohol, (5%) of pets have been burnt by an open fire and 4% said their animal had swallowed pine needles from the Christmas tree. 16% of pet owners had to take their animal to the vet after it was injured over the festive period.

Dr Jo Myers, a practicing veterinarian at Vetster, said: “It’s really important to keep an extra eye on pets over Christmas. Many will find the period quite stressful with new faces in and out of the house and lots of noise as excitement levels start to escalate.

“Ensuring pets are supervised and have a safe place to retreat to when it all gets too much will help reduce the risk of accidents. It’s also vital that harmful foods such as chocolate are well out of reach, along with candles which may catch a waggy tail.

“Pet owners should also tell their guests not to feed an animal unless they ask first to not only reduce the problem of ingesting something bad, but also to ensure the animal sticks to its usual diet which is key to managing their stress.”

While keeping a dog out of harm’s way at Christmas can be stressful, the research showed some owners are only too happy to have the animal around and use them as excuses for their own Christmas mishaps.

Almost one third (28%) admit to walking the dog to take a break from Christmas guests and more than one in 10 (12%) have opened a present early and then blamed it on the dog.

If your pet needs a veterinarian over the festive period, Vetster offers 24/7 online appointments and can help with dermatology, gastrointestinal, respiratory, urinary tract, ophthalmology and musculoskeletal issues, to name a few. Visit www.vetster.com  

Pictured: Dixie, a 2-year-old Standard Dachshund, got his paws on chocolate and ingested too much and became incredibly sick.