Keeping Your Pets Safe During the Holidays

By Dr. Carrie Schultz, Veterinarian

The Housepet Housevet

Holiday season is here! It’s time to celebrate and enjoy the company of family and friends, including beloved dogs and cats. Tragically, every year around the holidays many pets end up hospitalized or worse because of unknown hazards. To keep your pets safe and able to celebrate the season right by your side, take note of some of these lesser known dangers:

Bones and Table Scraps

Resist the urge to “treat” your pets with meat, ham, turkey skin, bones, etc. to avoid spending the weekend after Christmas at the emergency veterinary clinic. After the big feast, it’s easy to want to let your pooch in on the special treats. But for many dogs, an unexpected treat of “people food” can lead to severe gastroenteritis (vomiting, diarrhea) or pancreatitis, a potentially fatal disease. This is particularly a risk with foods that are very fatty, spicy or rich.

Also, turkey and chicken bones are prone to splintering, sending small pieces into the wall of the stomach or intestine and may result in infection. Steak and pork bones can often break into small chunks or chips that can lodge in the throat, stomach or intestine resulting in an obstruction.

For a safe special treat, save the bones to make broth for pouring over your dog’s regular food.

Electrical cords

Cords seem very attractive to cats and puppies. Biting into an electrical cord can result in severe burns to the mouth and accumulation of dangerous fluid in the lungs.

These are extremely attractive toys to cats and kittens, who may pounce, bat and chew on them. Chewing and swallowing tinsel, string or ribbon can cause a life threatening intestinal obstruction as the long material moves along the GI tract. Avoid using tinsel at all if you have cats, and monitor animals playing with ribbons or string very closely.

Christmas trees

The tree sap in the water can cause an upset stomach and any preservatives put in can be potentially toxic. If your tree is tall, beware of an overly adventurous car or dog knocking it over. Try to stabilize the top of the tree by anchoring it to a wall to keep it from falling.

Holly can cause severe gastrointestinal upset. Some varieties of Mistletoe can be extremely toxic to dogs and cats. Poinsettias, while often thought of as extremely toxic, are mostly irritating to the mouth, throat and stomach of animals who chew on them. Keep your decorative plants well out of pets’ reach, or use artificial versions.

Dangerous Snacks

Obviously, food and treats are an ever-present part of the holiday season. Again, pets’ tummies can react unpredictably to any new food, so use caution with all holiday treats. There are some ingredients, however, that can be especially harmful to pets, so keep anything with these ingredients safely out of the pet’s reach:

Macadamia nuts contain an unknown toxin that causes GI upset, muscle weakness, and neurological problems in dogs.
Grapes and Raisins contain an unknown toxin that can cause kidney failure in some dogs and possibly cats.
“Sugar Free” treats containing Xylitol can be very dangerous to dogs, as the xylitol can lead to life-threatening hypoglycemia or liver failure. Xylitol is very commonly used in sugar free gums, but can also be found in other treats.
Chocolate is one of the better-known dangers for dogs, but many people are unaware of the risk. The risk comes from a component in the chocolate called theobromine as well as caffeine. Dark chocolate has about 3 times as much theobromine as milk chocolate. Chocolate can cause clinical signs such as excitability, restlessness, tremors, vomiting and diarrhea.

Contact your veterinarian or a veterinary emergency clinic immediately if your pet ingests any of these dangerous foods. With a few precautions, you and your pets can enjoy a festive and safe holiday season.