Trupanion asked pet owners about their Valentine’s Day plans, and found that 40% of respondents would rather spend Valentine’s Day with their dog or cat than their significant other. As much as 45% of pet owners also plan to include their pets in their Valentine’s Day plans by buying them a gift this year. Among that group, a majority of pet owners plan to spend around $25 on their pets’ gifts. Also of note, while American’s will spend $18.6 billion on Valentine’s Day this year, according to a survey by the National Retail Federation, $815 million of that sum will be spent on pets!
Who would you rather spend Valentine’s Day With?
Are you planning on getting your pet a Valentine’s Day gift this year?
What will you get your pet as a Valentine’s Day gift?
How much are you likely to spend on your pet for Valentine’s Day?
Keep Pets Safe on Valentine’s Day
Although Valentine’s Day can be a fun day to show your dog how much you love them, you need to also remember the dangers that go along with traditional Valentine’s Day gifts, including alcohol, chocolate and flowers. All of these can be harmful to your dog and need to be kept out of reach. Although many of us think about this during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, Trupanion wants pet owners to know that every year, Valentine’s Day gifts cause huge vet bills due to ingestion of harmful and inedible items by dogs.
Trupanion looked into its database of insured pets and found that cats and dogs are getting far more involved in Valentine’s Day than their owners might hope.
The Data
Every year pets are responsible for ingesting Valentine’s gifts of chocolates, earrings, flowers, and even ladies underwear.
Chocolate is the biggest target of Valentine’s-related heists. Canines can’t resist the opportunity to snag some human food, and they don’t realize how toxic it can be. Last February, Trupanion received 46 chocolate ingestion and toxicity claims— that’s more than 1 per day. Dogs have accounted for 99.1% of chocolate ingestion claims since 2013.
Want to give your dog a treat and keep him out of the chocolate? Check out these fun dog “chocolates” that make a great Valentine’s Day gift for your dog and will keep him out of the vet’s office.
Aside from chocolate, dogs get into all sorts of things on this day of love. Trupanion revealed data on the most common and quirky Valentines-related foreign body ingestion claims every pet owner should be aware of this February 14th.
- A German Shepherd from Alberta was taken to the veterinarian after he jumped up to snag his owner’s roses and managed to eat the flowers and the vial that held them. Luckily for the shepherd, the stunt didn’t cause any serious health problems.
- In North Carolina, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy with some expensive taste ate a pearl earring.Trupanion paid $1,077.66 for the x-ray, surgery, and follow up treatments.
- A pet owner in Washington was concerned her Pomapoo may have swallowed a pair of ladies underwear. An x-ray and exploratory surgery later, veterinarians extracted a medium-sized pair of undies. Trupanion paid $1,111.06.
- An Old English Sheepdog in Ontario swallowed a pair of her owner’s earrings and was taken to the vet to avoid complications. Trupanion covered $1,350.72 for her x-ray and endoscopy.
- A Labrador retriever in British Columbia was rushed to the vet when she collapsed after eating two pounds of fudge and a couple milk chocolate lollypops. The high amount of sugar irritated a stomach ulcer in her gut and Trupanion covered $3,696.20 toward her diagnosis and treatments.
An Ounce of Prevention
As these examples prove, it doesn’t have to be food (or smell like food!) for your dog to eat it. Any gift you are giving this Valentine’s day could end up in your dog’s stomach if you are not careful. Simply keep them out of your dog’s reach (remember some dog’s jump or counter surf!) to avoid spending your Valentine’s night at the vet office –that “vet office smell” will definitely kill the romance.
About the Author
Based in Wilsonville, Ore., animal lover Kristina N. Lotz is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) and a member of the Dog Writers Association of America. She is the founder of A Fairytail House. In her spare time, she trains and competes in a variety of performance events with her Shetland Sheepdogs and caters to her two rescue kitties. She smartly married a Veterinary Technician, who helps keep the fur kids happy and healthy, and provides a quick resource for articles.
