It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Sadly, it is also the time when vet visits and bills skyrocket – right when we’d rather be spending our money on cute holiday plates and wrapping and gifts little fluffy timmy needs a hospital visit. It’s not a fun time for anyone involved, so here are some ways you can keep your holidays bright and your dog or cat out of holiday trouble.
Dogs and cats have unique things they like to get into during the holiday season, so we will start with dogs. If you don’t have a dog, jump to our cat section!
Holiday Dog Dangers
Ice Melts/Street Salt
Do you love salt? Your dog does too – and every year they cover the streets and sidewalks with it so we can drive and not slip. Unfortunately while too much sodium on its own is quite bad for dogs, “salt” when used to describe the stuff they put on the roads is being used in its scientific definition as any chemical compound formed from the reaction of an acid and a base. Table salt is Sodium Chloride (NaCl), but salt used on streets can be Potassium chloride, Magnesium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, or Calcium Magnesium Acetate. These can all make your pet feel pretty queasy if they lick it up. “A dog that ingests 4g (less than 1 oz.) of sodium chloride per 1kg (2.3 lbs.) of body weight could die. That would mean a dog that weighs only 4 lbs. would only need to eat about 2 ounces of ice melt containing sodium chloride before resulting in death.” (Accuweather.com) Especially dangerous are ice melts where the chemicals can be concentrated from melting snow. If that wasn’t enough, the salt is also very rough on your pups little toe beans. Much like you should rinse out the undercarriage of your car after winter driving you should clean your dog’s feet after they are out walking on salted streets or get them little booties to wear (plus the videos of dogs adjusting to wearing boots are hilarious).
Chocolate
Dogs love to find chocolate that isn’t meant for them and chow down. Most dog owners already know that chocolate is toxic to dogs, but that doesn’t mean that boxes of chocolate never get left under the tree or in a stocking that can be pulled off the mantle. Make sure any chocolate meant as a gift stays on a countertop your dog cannot reach or the fridge or freezer.
Cooked Bones
Do you have a family member that likes to sneak table scraps to your dog? If yes, (and you know they will never stop…) you should definitely make sure they know they are responsible for any stomach upsets they cause and to never give your dog bones from their meals! All tough treats like yak milk blocks, marrow bones, etc should be given under direct supervision, but dogs should really never have cooked bones. Cooked bones are likely to splinter and get stuck in your dog’s throat or in their digestive tract. It would be an extremely unpleasant dessert to have to go to an emergency vet after Christmas dinner.
Holiday Meals
Dog’s should not be eating human foods for the most part, especially not as a meal. It is extremely tempting to give them a slice of Christmas ham or turkey, but unless you want to spend the holiday season cleaning up puppy poops, you should keep your dog on it’s standard diet, and maybe give one or two extra treats for a special holiday surprise. High fat and sugary foods can make your dogs stomach very upset, and may even lead to pancreatitis which can lead to hospitalization.
Stuffed Dog Toys (Dog depending)
This caution is mainly for larger dogs – if you have a 5-10 lb dog, you may not have to worry quite so much about your dog even getting to the stuffing of its new toy, let alone eating it. If your dog likes to rip the heads off it’s bears, it’s not only a huge mess you’ll need to clean later, but can be dangerous if your dog thinks that stuffing is tasty (and we don’t mean the kind that goes in a turkey). Fluffy stuffing isn’t digestible and may lead to intestinal obstructions. There are all kinds of awesome dog toys that are stuffing free just for this purpose- and they tend to last a lot longer so you’ll save money too!
If you’re getting a child or a loved one a new stuffed animal, make sure they keep it away from the dog if your dog is prone to chewing. Standards for human toys and dog toys are a little different, and the last thing you want is a sad kid and a sick dog.
Rawhide
Similar to bones, cheap rawhide can splinter or your dog can get overly excited and try to swallow large pieces whole and choke. All hard chews given to your dog should be done under supervision. A great alternative to rawhide is yak milk chews, available now at most pet stores – when the treat gets small, you can even pop it in the microwave to poof it up like popcorn and get even more chew time out of it for your dog.
Mistletoe/Holly
Holly, or mistletoe as it is called for 2 months of the year, is both very sharp and full of toxins. If your dog eats any of this yuletide decoration, they may smack their lips, drool, shake the heard a lot, vomit, lose their appetite or have diarrhea. If you suspect your pet has eaten any holly, call your vet for advisement. If you are going to hang mistletoe, do it in a room where your dog cannot get access in case it falls to the floor.
Christmas Tree Preservative
In an effort to make money off of people wanting their Christmas tree to look greener longer, a market for Christmas Tree preservatives has sprung up, selling families chemicals to pour into their Christmas tree stands. These chemicals are toxic to pets and humans – and have very little effect on preserving your tree, according to Penn State. Skip the Christmas Tree preservative, make sure your tree has lots of water in its stand, and rest easy knowing there isn’t a bowl of poison in your living room.
Christmas-time Cat Cautions
Tinsel and Ribbons
Is it stringy and sparkly? Yes? Obviously tinsel is going to attract cats like it’s covered in catnip. It is extremely dangerous for cats to ingest strings, ribbons and tinsel – especially the latter two since they tend to be sharp on the edges. Ribbons and tinsel can get wrapped around something in your cat, and literally cut up your cat’s stomach and intestines as they attempt to move the object through the body. Ribbon and tinsel can also cause the intestine to become bunched up and lead to a blockage which will require a medical procedure to clear. If you have a cat, you may want to remove your tinsel and wrap your presents with premade bows or very wide fabric ribbon that your cat is not interested in. If your cat is determined, skip the ribbon and tinsel all together.
Poinsettias
This popular holiday plant is poisonous to both cats and dogs. Dogs mostly aren’t interested in eating them, but cats do tend to like to nibble on them. The Pet Poison Hotline says “when ingested, mild signs of vomiting, drooling, or rarely, diarrhea may be seen. If the milky sap is exposed to skin, dermal irritation (including redness, swelling, and itchiness) may develop.” Luckily, while eating a poinsettia will lead to an unpleasant holiday for your kitty, ingesting a poinsettia almost never requires medical treatment unless the symptoms are severe.
Mistletoe/Holly
Holly, or mistletoe as it is called for 2 months of the year, is both very sharp and full of toxins. If your cat eats any of this yuletide decoration, they may smack their lips, drool, shake the heard a lot, vomit, lose their appetite or have diarrhea. If you suspect your pet has eaten any holly, call your vet for advisement. If you are going to hang mistletoe, do it in a room where your cat cannot get access in case it falls to the floor.
Lilies
Lilies are certainly beautiful to us humans but they are incredibly dangerous for cats. Ingesting any part of a lily could result in catastrophic kidney failure. If your cat eats part of a lily plant and does not receive treatment within 3 days, they could die. If you notice parts of your lily plants missing, and suspect your cat of having eaten them, or see your cat drooling (almost always a sign of poisoning), vomiting (especially with bits of plant in it), increased urination and then no urination after a day or two), call your vet right away. The scariest lilies are those from the genuses Lilium and Hemerocallis which includes Easter lilies, Tiger lilies and Asiatic lilies and Day lilies. If you have lilies as an indoor plant, you may want to consider moving them outside where your curious cat can’t munch on them.
Christmas Light Wires
If your cat loves to chew your laptop charger or phone cable, you may want to keep your cat away from your tree if you’re going to put lights on it. Your cat could get a great shock and/or even start a fire if it decides to chow down on your lights. If your cat starts chewing and stops before getting a shock, exposed wires could bump and set fire to your tree. It’s not worth it to risk, so keep your cat in a separate christmas-free part of your home.
Christmas Tree Preservative
In an effort to make money off of people wanting their Christmas tree to look greener longer, a market for Christmas Tree preservatives has sprung up, selling families chemicals to pour into their Christmas tree stands. These chemicals are toxic to pets and humans – and have very little effect on preserving your tree, according to Penn State. Skip the Christmas Tree preservative, make sure your tree has lots of water in its stand, and rest easy knowing there isn’t a bowl of poison in your living room.
Both dogs and cats both don’t like loud noises or lots of commotion. Try to keep their environment happy and loving and what they are used to as much as possible, for them to have the best holiday experience possible.
If you are going out of town for the holiday season and need someone for daytime cat pet sitting or want to make sure your dog is getting adequate exercise even while family is in town, call Kira of Off Road Paws at 303-818-0708 and set up a time for your dog to go on an adventure, set up pet-sitting or one of our other service options. We’re happy to help!