During the holiday season, your home turns into an intriguing new place in your pet’s eyes. Twinkling lights, garland, strange plants and even a live tree, transform your home in just a few hours. Holiday decorations make your surroundings look festive, but can be dangerous for pets. You can keep your pet safe this holiday season by taking a few precautions.
*Fasten your tree securely to the wall with wire, particularly if your pet has been known to try to climb the tree. Unstable trees can cause serious injury if they fall on your pet.
*Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Christmas candles can burn pets or cause a fire if pets accidently knock them over. Carefully supervise pets when candles are lit or use flameless candles.
*Hang ornaments high on the tree and pinch wire hangers tightly around branches if your pet enjoys playing with low-hanging ornaments. Use short loops of ribbon in place of wire ornament hangers and unbreakable ornaments for increased safety.
*Keep tinsel and garland out of your pet’s reach. Both can cause digestive and choking problems if swallowed.
*Don’t add aspirin to the water in your Christmas tree holder. Aspirin could seriously sicken or kill your pet.
*Make sure holiday collars, hats or other petwear, such as antlers, don’t have any loose parts that your pet could swallow, such as bells. Supervise dogs and cats closely if they are wearing collars with bells. Bells can be chewed off and swallowed, and the edges of the bells can cut pets’ tongues.
*Keep holiday plants away from pets. Most pet owners have heard that poinsettias are dangerous to pets. While these plants can cause nausea and vomiting, they aren’t quite as dangerous as once thought, although you should take care to keep poinsettia plants out of the reach of your pets. Eating holly plants or berries can cause nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, while ingesting mistletoe, particularly mistletoe berries, can cause gastrointestinal problems, slow heart rate and cardiac collapse.
*Put amaryllis, narcissus and other plants in the lily and daffodil families out of the reach of pets. Plants in the lily families are particularly toxic to cats and can cause gastrointestinal problems, abnormal heart rhythms, kidney failure, convulsions or death. Eating daffodil plants or bulbs can cause a toxic reaction in both dogs and cats.
*Don’t let pets eat foods containing chocolate. Chocolate contains theobromine, a chemical that can be toxic to pets. While you should keep all types of chocolate from your pet, semi-sweet and dark chocolate, frequently used to make chocolate chip cookies and other treats, contains the highest amount of theobromine. The severity of the symptoms varies depending on the amount eaten, but can include irritability, excitability, increased heart rate or urination, vomiting, diarrhea and death.
*Place electrical and extension cords out of your pet’s reach. To discourage chewing, camouflage cords or slit a piece of PVC tubing and place the cords inside. Biting an extension cord sends 110 volts of electricity throughout your pet’s body and can result in death.
*Don’t give your pet hollow bones, such as turkey or chicken bone, which can cause choking or can puncture the intestinal tract. Onions, both raw and cooked, can sicken your pets and cause Heinz Body Anemia in cats.
Tip: It’s easy to overlook potential dangers in your home, particularly from your vantage point. Sitting on the floor or crawling around the room can help you spot potential hazards. If your pet does happen to swallow a potentially dangerous substance, call your veterinarian immediately.
