Creature Feature – Keep Your Pets Safe This Holiday

Santa Paws is coming to town, so let’s keep our pets safe throughout the holiday season and beyond!

One of the season’s joys is celebrating with friends and family, but some pets may be overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of visitors to your home and would benefit from a quiet room or their crate for security.  Let your guests know you have pets ahead of time and discourage any table scrap “handouts.”  

Dangerous food for pets includes bones; chocolate; candy or gum, especially those containing a toxic sweetener called Xylitol; grapes and raisins; onions, garlic or chives; citrus and their pits; coffee beans/grounds; raw or undercooked meat, eggs or fish; and nuts.  Keep trash safely secured.

Pets can suffer from frostbite and hypothermia just like us.  PLEASE don’t leave them outside in cold weather.  Short-haired or elderly dogs (and senior horses, too) will stay cozier in a sweater or coat for potty breaks.  Remove ice balls and sidewalk salt residue from their paws.

As you deck the halls and trim the tree, don’t allow pets to chew on pine needles, tinsel, tree lights or holiday plants like holly and poinsettias; as well, they shouldn’t drink water from the tree stand, which may contain harmful chemicals.  Firestarter logs contain paraffin and sawdust, both irritating to the GI tract, so keep these products out of reach.  Pets can also knock over lit candles, spilling hot wax and potentially starting a house fire. 

Visit the Humane Society of the United States at humanesociety.org for more pet safety tips.  Wishing you and your fur babies a very Ho-ho-happy Holiday Season!

Article & Photo by Margie Manthey