What to do if my dog eats a mince pie?

There are some flavours that are so woven into the fabric of Christmas they help to bring this time of year to life. The delicious, warm spiciness of mulled wine and the booziness of a well aged Christmas cake. Then there’s mince pies. While these make delicious treats for us humans, they can be very dangerous for dogs. So what do you do if your dog eats a mince pie? Let’s find out.

Keep out of reach

It’s true the only safe mince meat for a dog is the sort you get from the butcher, thoroughly cooked. The mince meat we put in mince pies is full of things that are not good at all for dogs, with one of the key worries being raisins.

Raisins (and their less shrivelled former selves, grapes) are highly toxic to dogs. They can cause acute kidney injury (kidney failure, essentially) and this can lead to death. This is why it’s imperative to keep things like Christmas cakes and mince pies away from your four-legged friend.

Call your vet

If you spot your dog snaffling a mince pie, or anything else containing raisins, currents or sultanas, call a vet straight away. Your dog may look and seem fine, but it’s important to get them checked as quickly as possible. Your vet will know what to do, and at this time of year, they’re no strangers to calls about pups chomping things they shouldn’t.

They’re likely to ask you to bring your dog into the surgery and they may be kept overnight for observation. Talking to your vet early, and getting your dog to them if necessary quickly is vital. The quicker you get the vet involved, the better it is for everyone, especially your dog.

To help avoid this, we recommend keeping mince pies in a tin in a cupboard, and only eating them while stood up or at the dining room table. This won’t necessarily guarantee your dog won’t get hold of one. But it’s a good practice to get into the habit of, it’ll make this unfortunate event less likely to happen.