Holiday pet safety is an important topic. The holiday season can prove to be a dangerous time for our pets. There are a lot of shiny blinky things for our pets to gander at, and they may look like something they just need to take a bite out of. Poinsettias are always indicated as really poisonous plants, when in actuality they only cause minor signs such as salivations when ingested by pets. Much more of a concern is the Mistletoe berries. They can cause gastrointestinal distress, and in severe can cases seizures.
Candy and Danger of Chocolate to Pets
Hopefully everyone by now knows chocolate is bad for our pets, but it is worth mentioning as a reminder. The darker and better the chocolate, the worse it is for our pets. Christmas candy often has an artificial sweetener called xylitol that is extremely poisonous to dogs and cat. Just a couple pieces of candy or gum that have xylitol can kill a large dog. So please put all candy up and away and out of reach of your “best friends”.
Christmas Lights and Pets
Finally, when considering holiday pet safety you must think about all those shiny blinky things. Cats love to bite into the light strands (remember Aunt Bethany’s cat in the movie Christmas vacation?). Not a good thing to do so, please unplug things when not in use.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Dr Rex Riggs