Holiday Hazards

Pet Care Tips

Spring Holiday Hazards

While you are busy making your plans for St. Patrick’s Day and Easter, please don't forget to include your pets. Once you know the hazards, a little precaution and prevention will make the holidays a happy time for everyone.

With St. Patrick’s Day and Easter just around the corner, the sweets we crave are just as tasty to our pets but can be deadly.
Chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine--both of which are toxic. Signs can include excitement/hyperactivity, vomiting, diarrhea, tremors, seizures, and increased heart rate. Limiting exposure to chocolate and chocolate-containing foods is the best way to prevent accidental ingestion.
Sugar-free gums and candies may be sweetened with xylitol, which can be very dangerous to your pets. Xylitol can cause life-threatening low blood sugar and severe liver damage.

Tinsel or Easter grass can be appealing, but if ingested, it can twist up in the intestines. This is a particular danger to cats and kittens, which seem to find tinsel, yarn, ribbon, and string tempting to eat.

Keep a watchful eye on the holiday plants (Lillies). While they might smell and look engaging to the eye, they can be very toxic to animals when ingested.

The holiday turkey or ham will leave a lot of tantalizing bones, but don't feed them to your pet. Beware of steak bones, too. Small bones or bone chips can get lodged in the throat, stomach, and intestinal tract.

With everyone coming and going, watch out for open doors and sneaky pets. Make sure your pets wear collars and tags in case of escape. And it’s a good time to think about a HomeAgain microchip. Ask guests to keep an eye out for pets under foot and remind them that sometimes your normally friendly dog or cat may be less than willing to deal with enthusiastic children and rooms full of unfamiliar people.

Thanks,

Happy Holidays