With Christmas just around the corner, vet charity PDSA warns owners to keep the chocolate away from curious canines, after a 10-year-old dog decided to help herself to a box of Guylian chocolates.

The cheeky Chihuahua, Honey, was discovered by her loving owner, Holly MacKenzie, who suffered a festive fright after realising Honey had wolfed down half a box of chocolate seashells.

Holly returned home after popping out, and noticed the chocolate box was now on the floor, but wasn’t ripped and didn’t look opened so initially assumed Honey had knocked the box over but not managed to eat any chocolate.

However, when she saw Honey was extremely bloated and didn’t look well, Holly knew there was something seriously wrong. She opened the chocolate box to find half of the 20 chocolate seashells gone, Honey had carefully eaten them without destroying any of the box!

Holly knew chocolate can be fatal for dogs – given Honey is a tiny Chihuahua, she was very worried about how much she had eaten. She immediately called the Croydon PDSA Pet Hospital, where the team advised to bring Honey straight in, to provide emergency treatment.

Holly said: “As soon as I saw how bloated Honey was and the chocolate box on the floor, I just knew she must have got her paws on them. She’s never done anything like this in the whole nine years we have had her, so it came as a huge shock. Honey is the light of our lives and she’s never got herself into any bother before.

At Croydon PDSA Pet Hospital, Honey was treated with a fluid drip, charcoal to stop her absorbing any more of the toxins and medication to help her vomit up as much chocolate as possible. She was monitored closely in the Pet Hospital for any signs of chocolate toxicity but thankfully her treatment worked and she was able to head home to fully recover just in time to enjoy the rest of the festive season with her family.

Holly added: “We’re just so relieved after all of the chocolate that Honey is ok as we know how dangerous it can be for dogs.”

Across it’s 48 Pet Hospitals, PDSA sees a 35% increase in a medication used to treat poisonings around Christmas, which is likely linked to the abundance of dangerous food in the home such as chocolates.

If you think your pet could have ingested some chocolate, don’t wait for chocolate poisoning symptoms to appear, keep the packaging and call your vet immediately.

Thousands of people could suffer a devastating loss because they can’t afford their pet’s veterinary treatment, together this Christmas we can save pets’ lives. For more information on how you can help PDSA keep people and pets together this visit: www.pdsa.org.uk/donate