THE fine weather has got many people dusting off their BBQ's and with it the temptations for cats and dogs and their owners to enjoy sometime in the sun.

For GP Vets resident canine and friend of The Gazette Bertie, the smell isn't too appealing for him and his pals, but there's the food and there's the food residue left behind on the skewers and grill which they'll die for.

It's easy to understand the problems, which begin with a simple change of diet from what they're used to. This has predictable results in both cats and dogs and so the advice is twofold, don't do it and put slippers on first thing the following morning if you're a bit hazy.

Then there's the bones from the cooking and eating, like the soft fish bones which can get stuck in throats through to brittle cooked lamb, chicken, pork and beef bones which disintegrate into sharp shards or irregular shapes.

The shards are deeply unpleasant if vomited and the irregular shapes, from chop bones can get stuck not just in the gut but much worse, in the oesophagus, the tube leading down from the mouth to the stomach.

This ends up being treated with surgery that may be best done at a Specialist centre for best outcomes.

Small fragments of bone can pass through and form, how should we put this, "concrete" when it comes to the other end. It's enough to make a dog's eyes water.

The advice is obvious, have a cat and dog proof bin handy and brief everyone at the party. Bertie also says have your phone ready to take photos of what comes up or comes out, so your vet can decide what's best.

Back in the 1970s cocktail sticks with bits of pineapple, cheese and little onions were all the rage.

Nowadays it's wooden BBQ skewers for kebabs. These can fall off plates, puncture bin bags and a hound with a good nose, which is all of them, will find skewers in the grass or where the bags are waiting to be put out.

This happened to a friend of Bertie's just the other day. Bertie can report there was a good outcome as it were, so although a tail was wagging the whole time, the patient's owner had a drill to follow - ahem, he had to "go through the motions" and provide photographic evidence.

Bertie's owner doesn't use wood he uses flexible wire skewers for kebabs, so a top cooking tip there.

The grills are a problem because of residual heat particularly for cats tempted by small morsels of food, so please cover up afterwards.

Although Bertie doesn't run regular advice clinics himself he can be found every morning supervising reception at GPVets in Basingstoke (www.gpvets.com tel. 01256 465409) and is happy to meet and greet. However, he is more impressed with visitors if they offer him one of his regular treats and that's a way of reminding everyone that at BBQ time why not think about having some regular treats available for his friends, your pets rather than a "summer special"?