Make a Safe Holiday Home for Your Pet

Holidays can be hazardous for our pets. Most of the things to keep our pets safe during the holidays are common sense, but many times we are distracted by a busy holiday schedule. We need to remember that the holidays can be stressful on our dogs and cats as well. Our homes become hectic with decorations and visitors stopping by and all this activity can be stressful for our pets; that are used to a much more laid back environment.

Christmas packaging and ornaments can be choking hazard. Keep wrapping supplies away from your dog or cat. Cats in particular may be very tempted to consume tinsel and ribbon that can cause a blockage in their bowel or a tinsel hairball you will not enjoy cleaning up. Tinsel is best avoided in houses that have cats and dogs.

Christmas plants are especially dangerous around cats and dogs. Mistletoe, Holly, Hibiscus and even Poinsettia can cause fatal intestinal problems in pets. Skip the poisonous Christmas plants and use silk plants instead. If a guest brings a Christmas plant as a gift put the dog and cat away until you can figure out a place to place the plant where they will have no access to it. Explain to friends and family that having pets makes Christmas plants an unwelcome addition to your holiday decorating.

Be careful with chords that you use for holiday light displays .Secure them with tape to the floor to discourage chewing from your dog or cat. You can also use wire ties to keep chords from dangling and being an extra temptation for your cat. You can distract your cat from chords by providing them safe dangling toys on the scratching posts.

Be careful with candles and fires in the fire place. Do not leave candles light on tables and counters in rooms where cats can knock them over. It is a good idea to only use candles when you are in the same room and can extinguish them before you leave the room. Using a heath gate around the fireplace will make the living room safe for the pets and small children. Keep curious kittens and puppies away from the fire place until you are sure there are not lingering embers and clean soot as soon as possible. You might find your snow white kitten as black as a Halloween cat if you leave to fire place to clean later. You will also cut down on finding black soot paw prints on your carpet.

If you use a real tree keep your dog or cat away from the Christmas tree. First there is a good chance your cat will climb the Christmas tree dislodging large amounts of pine needle or knock the tree completely over. The water many Christmas trees sit in to keep them fresh; is a health hazard to your pet. It contains harmful bacteria. If you have a large dog they will try to consume any edible ornaments on the tree such as strung pop corn or candy canes.

These items can cause your dog to become ill and also can become a choking hazard. It is unlikely that your dog will remove the plastic wrapper from the candy cane or remove the dental floss that the popcorn is strung on before eating. Avoid edible ornaments on trees around larger dogs. If you have a smaller dog and a cat you may wish to leave these types of ornaments off the tree. In my house the cats work in tandem with the dog. They dislodge the ornaments on the tree and knock them down and the dog tries to eat them.

Most of us have our houses filled with goodies during the holiday times. Even a little chocolate can kill a dog or cat so does not leave out a candy bowl full of chocolate Santa's. If you share people for with your pets make sure that it does not contain caffeine or nuts that can make pets very ill. Also things like grapes and raisons can cause kidney damage in pets. When you are a guest in someone else's house never give their pet any human food. They may have a severe food allergy you know nothing about.

When you have holiday guest over spare you dog or cat the need to socialize. Put them away in the back bedroom until your holiday festivities are over. You pets will not get stressed out and your guest will appreciate not being jumped on. Be sure to find time to take your dog on a long walk before you have a houseful of people. The dog will be calmer and you will cut down on the possibility of an accident on the carpet because you were too distracted to take out the dog.

Lastly, don't give pets as holiday gifts. Shelters are full of Christmas puppies and kittens after the holidays. Becoming a pet owner is something each person has to decide for themselves. When giving pets to younger children; you must realize you are really committing their parents to care for the pets. Even older children quickly lose interest in caring for Christmas pets.

http://www.arkanimals.com/dlg/christmas_hanukkah_holiday_pet_safety_tips.htm
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/petholidaytips
http://www.lgd.org/library/hazards.htm