Hidden Holiday Hazards…and How to Avoid Them

This year, try to imagine the holiday season from your four-legged friend’s perspective: flashing lights and shiny tinsel to play with; a tasty turkey bone hidden in the trash can to munch on; a tree just waiting to be climbed. …What’s wrong with this picture? The holiday trimmings we take for granted can become all-too-tempting hazards for dogs and cats. Here are a few simple things you can do to help ensure that both you and your animal friends have a safe and merry holiday season:

Don’t let holiday activities affect your companion animal’s daily routine. With all the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping, wrapping presents, and baking goodies, you might forget to clean Kitty’s litter pan or take Waldo for a walk. But Waldo needs to do his business just the same, and the result of a missed walk could be a surprise “present” for you on the living room carpet. If an accident does happen, don’t punish your pooch—it’s your fault! Instead, vow to spend more time caring for your companion.
When decking the halls, remember prying paws. Cats, especially, have a hard time resisting ribbons and glittery tinsel, but if swallowed, these and other decorations can block an animal’s digestive track or even perforate intestinal walls. Never try to pull a string out of your animal’s mouth; the string could cut through the intestines. If your companion animal does swallow a holiday decoration, contact your veterinarian immediately.
Animals may think holly, mistletoe, and poinsettia plants are part of a seasonal salad bar, but eating these greens could cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Spray a fine mist of hot sauce on plants to make them less palatable, or better yet, keep them out of your fuzzy friend’s reach.
Use caution with Hanukkah and Kwanzaa candles, which can burn animals or start fires if not secured.
Anchor your Christmas tree to the ceiling or wall with nylon filament line. Leave the tree untrimmed for a few days to give animals a chance to satisfy their curiosity. When you do decorate, don’t hang breakable ornaments on the lower branches (where animals may knock them off and cut their paws on the broken glass), and don’t hang ornaments with wire hooks (which can become lodged in an animal’s mouth or throat).
Preservatives and pine needles in tree-stand water can harm animals—hide the stand and any electric cords under a decorative tree skirt.
Family and friends may not always know the best strategies for keeping animals inside when opening outside doors, so ask visitors to use caution. Make sure your animals are wearing clear, current identification tags—with your name, address, and phone number—just in case.
Take a few minutes to teach your guests’ children about proper animal etiquette (don’t pull kitty’s tail or pick bunny up by the ears, for example), and remind them that like people, animals need some quiet time alone. If children are too rambunctious for Tabby’s taste, you may want to keep your animals secured inside a bedroom. This will prevent the animals from becoming stressed out and biting or scratching youngsters.
Be sure children and adults alike know not to share Christmas candy with animals. Chocolate contains theobromine, an ingredient poisonous to dogs, and can cause cardiac irregularities, seizures—even death. Turkey and chicken bones splinter easily and can become lodged in an animal’s throat. Alcoholic beverages are especially tempting to dogs, so keep drinks out of reach.
If you’re like most people, you’ll probably give your companion animal a holiday present (a survey by the American Animal Hospital Association found that 79 percent of people give animals holiday and birthday treats). While it’s perfectly acceptable to give animals gifts, don’t give animals as gifts. The difficulties that animals face while adjusting to a new home are compounded during the hectic holidays. Instead, wrap up a food bowl or collar and attach a note promising to help the recipient find a furry friend after the holidays.

View our 'Animals as Gifts' page.

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