Christmas being associated with partying and eating doesn’t mean people along with eating themselves a lot also overfeed their pets that could affect their health.

Shivaun Statham, Purina’s resident pet-care expert warns owners of pets for their over-feeding during the festive season that could harm their health.

“At Christmas time, there always seems to be plenty of food to go around, but feeding our pets table scraps can lead to overweight pets and ultimately serious health conditions”, said Statham.

She added that the overweight pets could bear consequences of over-eating such as weakened immune system, problems relating to movement and they could also be at risk of getting affected with diabetes and heart disease.

Ms. Statham raised her concerns over Kiwis’ likelihood to provide their pets with fetish meals during Christmas as a recent survey by The Nielsen Company found that 42% of the Kiwis said that they would treat their cats with good foods on Christmas. She was of the view that there could be employed more healthy ways to coddle pets.

She expressed idea of spending more time with pets during festive season rather than feeding them with table scraps and other naughty treats. She suggested taking pets to walk and playing with them.