The holiday season is fast approaching, which means it’s time to get out your festive decorations. Whether you’re excited about Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, or all three, there’s no better way to get into the holiday spirit than by decorating your home. However, if you have pets in your house, you might be worried that some of your decorations pose a danger to them.
If you want to keep your pets safe but don’t want to give up your decorations, you’ve come to the right place. While most decorations aren’t dangerous to pets, there are a few things that could put their health in jeopardy. After all, nothing will kill the holiday spirit faster than accidentally causing harm to your furry family member.
- Are Some Decorations Toxic to Pets?
- Most Dangerous Decorations for Pets
- How Do You Keep Your Pets Safe During the Holidays?
- Tips for Decorating Your Home With Pet Safety in Mind
Are Some Decorations Toxic to Pets?
The biggest risk you have when decorating for any holiday is the fact that some of your decorations might be toxic for your pets. Unlike humans, dogs and cats don’t realize that certain things aren’t for eating, and they’re likely to take a curious nibble. Unfortunately, if they happen to sample a bit of holly or mistletoe, you won’t be having a holly jolly Christmas.
Here are a few of the most toxic plant decorations for dogs and cats that you should avoid.
- Holly
- Mistletoe
- Poinsettias
- Rosemary
- English ivy
- Amaryllis
- Lillies
If you left your decorations unattended and start to notice your dog or cat acting funny, it’s important that you contact a vet immediately. Signs of poisoning in pets include lethargy, drooling, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Toxic Foods for Pets
In addition to the festive plants and decorations to be aware of, you should also keep a close eye on your food. During the Halloween season when candy is abundant, it’s likely that you’ll have chocolate lying around. Unfortunately, chocolate in any form is extremely poisonous to dogs. Dogs, however, aren’t aware of this and are drawn to the sweet smell that chocolate offers.
You should also make sure to keep other foods such as grapes, raisins, garlic, onions, chives, and nutmeg away from pets. Each of these foods differs in their toxicity, but they can all be deadly when consumed in large amounts.
Most Dangerous Decorations for Pets
The potential danger of your dog or cat eating something isn’t the only holiday hazard they face. Many of your favorite and most festive decorations may present a risk to them for reasons outside of ingestion.
Candles
Candles are one of the best ways to set the mood when autumn and winter roll around. They create a warm, comfortable feeling inside your home and provide a source of light and good smells. However, candles are also a huge fire hazard if you have pets, especially curious ones. You should always keep your candles out of the reach of pets and make sure to keep an eye on them when they’re lit.
Christmas Trees
It’s tough to enjoy Christmas without a good Christmas tree. However, Christmas trees also present a danger to pets, specifically cats. If you want to enjoy your Christmas season without incident, here are a few tips for Christmas tree safety with pets.
- Anchor the tree to the floor so it can’t tip over.
- Choose a fake tree so that your pet won’t eat dead, fallen tines.
- Hang Christmas tree ornaments high so your pets can’t get to them.
- Consider choosing a smaller tree so that if it does fall on a pet, it won’t be deadly to them.
Choose Your Ornaments Wisely
Another huge thing to keep in mind, specifically with Christmas, is the ornaments you choose for your tree. No matter how high you hang them or how stable the tree is, there’s always a chance that ornaments will fall. For that reason, it’s vital that you have shatter-proof ornaments that won’t leave broken shards if they fall and break.
It’s also important that you don’t leave tree wrapping or lights hanging too low for your cat to reach. They’re curious creatures who like to tug at loose strings, and if that string happens to be connected to your tree, it could all come crashing down.
Tinsel, Tinsel, Tinsel
We mention tinsel three times as a dangerous decoration because, outside of poisons, it’s the worst holiday decoration if you have pets. Not only is it an absolute mess to deal with, but tinsel is also like a magnet for dogs and cats. They’re drawn to it, love to pull and tug on it, and will even eat it. Once again, tinsel isn’t toxic for pets, but it’s a choking hazard and can also get tangled up around their insides after they eat it.
How Do You Keep Your Pets Safe During the Holidays?
Although we’ve laid out a number of risks when it comes to holiday decorating with pets, it’s very possible to keep them safe. Essentially, you’ll want to treat your pets the same way you would a young child. Assume that they don’t know any better, and keep toxic and dangerous items well out of their reach.
If you can’t do without some of the toxic holiday decorations listed above, you can always buy fake versions of the real thing. It’s also a good idea to have your vet on speed dial, just in case. You can take all the precautions in the world and still end up with an accident where your pet needs medical attention.
Tips for Decorating Your Home With Pet Safety in Mind
- Don’t hang any edible tree decorations or ornaments that could shatter.
- Make note of the foods and plants that are toxic to pets and avoid them.
- Anchor your Christmas tree firmly so that it can’t tip over.
- Keep your decorations out of reach of your pets.
- Don’t leave lit candles lying around.
- Make sure you don’t have Christmas lights within reach of your pets.
- Use as few extension cords as possible to reduce the risk of electrical shock.
- Keep your pet away when you’re wrapping or opening presents. Dogs and cats may try to eat the wrapping paper and could also cut themselves on it.
By following these tips and tricks and adhering to the advice in this article, you can have a great holiday season with festive decorations that don’t present a risk to your pets.
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