Warning after dog is nearly poisoned by eating fruit cake scattered in Leamington park

Jacqueline Rowdon, of Stratford, was walking her five-year-old miniature wire-hair Dachshund Humphrey in Jephson Gardens on Sunday (November 17) when she noticed the dog was eating something from the floor.

It was crumbs of a sponge cake including dried pieces of raisins, which can be poisonous to dogs.

Jacqueline said: "Somebody had strewn crumbs of sponge cake across the path, probably trying to feed the squirrels in the park.

"There were pieces of dried fruit there including raisins and just one small piece could be very poisonous to animals.

"People need to be more aware that they should not be bringing things like this to feed animals in the park especially now we're entering the season where a lot of people buy fruit cakes with raisins and sultanas in them."

Jacqueline rushed Humphrey to the Avonvale Veterinary Centre in Warwick where he was given intravenous fluid support and gastric protectants and kept under observation for a couple of days but, fortunately, suffered no ill effects from eating the cake.

Simon Davies, clinical director at Avonvale Veterinary Centres, said: “‘Vine fruits can have toxic effects in some dogs if a large enough quantity is eaten.

“Signs can range from mild signs such as diarrhoea or vomiting to more severe effects such as incoordination and even kidney failure.

“Dried fruit such as currants, raisins and sultanas is more likely to cause signs of illness than grapes. Cakes containing dried fruit and particularly Christmas cake which often contains a lot of fruit are a particular risk.

“Humphrey’s owner`s acted quickly and we were able to initiate some supportive treatment to prevent any toxic harmful effects.”