ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

How To Keep Your Pets Safe This Holiday Season

Updated on September 10, 2013
Kristine Manley profile image

Kris Manley is a blogger, author, and speaker. She's a guest on radio in the U.S., Canada, and overseas, as well as a guest on network TV.

Don't forget to protect Max and Milo around Christmas, Thanksgiving, and other Holidays.

Source

Around the holidays we are so concerned about purchasing gifts and making sure the children have what they want and/or need. We think about other gift ideas for parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, and co-workers, but what about your pets? What do they need? How do you care for them around the Holidays? Yes, you may be thinking about that doggy or kitty toy, but is your house safe for your pets around the holidays? We child proof our homes around the holidays, but do we pet proof our homes too?

10 Tips To Keep Your Pets Safe Around The Holidays.

  1. If you are having a holiday party and your pets are small, be reminded that they can be stepped on unintentionally. So to keep them from becoming mini door mats put them in their room with their toys, food, bed, and monitor - yes monitor (like a baby monitor); you want to hear what's going on where they are. If they whine or meow or make other noises for a long period of time, you want to check on them.
  2. An alternative pet safe party idea is to place your pet with a neighbor that it's familiar with, or put your pet in a kennel. Pets can be excitable or scared around new house guests. Your pet may also be frightened of loud sounds or noises. I had a friend whose dog used to get so excited that she would pee on the carpet each time guests came over to visit.
  3. Please, don't feed the animals - ask your holiday guests to keep their drinks and food away from your pet.
  4. Do you plan on having holiday plants around the house? Keep them away from your pets, especially, mistletoe, lilies, poinsettias, and holly. Poinsettias will give pets somewhat of an upset stomach - read why in this Hub: http://alexadry.hubpages.com/hub/Are-poinsettias-poisonous. Holly berries and mistletoe berries, if eaten in large numbers, by cats and dogs can cause vomiting and diarrhea along with some upset in the GI tract. Cats can suffer kidney failure after ingesting just a small amount of a lily.
  5. If you have any lit candles, don't leave your pet in a room with them. It could be a disaster if they knock them over.
  6. Make sure your pets stay away from treats containing chocolate, raisins, grapes, xylitol, onions and other foods that are considered to be toxic to animals.
  7. Chicken and turkey bones are a no, no for your pet; they can splinter.
  8. If you have a cat you might not want to put tinsel on your Christmas tree. If the cat eats the tinsel it can block the cat's intestines.
  9. Electrical cords can be a hazard to your pets - especially if you have a "chewer" for a pet. Not securing your electrical cords could be a shock to your pet - no pun intended.
  10. Timberrrrrrrr! You don't want your Christmas tree to be knocked over by your pet, so secure it. You know that cats love to climb, so hang a lemon-scented car air freshener in the tree to act as a climbing deterrent.

Holiday Puppy
Holiday Puppy | Source

Other Pet Safe Ideas

  • If children will visit your home around the holidays ask their parents if they like pets. Children can be harmful to animals if not properly supervised. I'm just saying.
  • Is your pet allergic to certain smells. Some guests will have on perfume and cologne and want to snuggle with your pet. How will that perfume or cologne affect your pet?
  • Aunt Sally says, "have pet will travel." But you say, "not to my house." Don't let guests who might own "bully" pets bring them to your house. Why should your precious Milo have a boxing match over the holidays and a paw print in the face?
  • Use disposable dishware for the holidays. Why? You don't want to stack up used plates and glasses on the counter until morning. Your pet may want to lick the excess food particles off of them. Again, keep them safe from alcohol residue in glasses which can be toxic to them along with leftover chocolate cake left on a plate. Don't forget to take the trash out so your pet won't attempt to go into it.
  • Make sure your pet's collar doesn't get caught on a decoration you've place in an unusual place - choking your pet and pulling down or off the decoration.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)