How Do You Keep Your Pets Safe During The Holiday?
With Christmas right around the corner, I’m sure the decorations are probably out in the house.
The only problem is some of these new items could be toxic for your kitty without you even knowing it.
So today I wanted to talk about ways to keep your cat safe during the holiday season
Christmas Safety – Identifying Hazardous Items
First, I want to talk about some hazardous Christmas items you should be aware of.
The biggest one that many people forget is snow globes. Snow globes can be gorgeous to look at, but the inside contains antifreeze.
If a snow globe is broken and your cat ingests even a little of the liquid, it could be detrimental to your cat.
The next biggest items are tinsel and angel hair.
These items make your house look gorgeous, but cats often see these as toys and will try and play with them. Ingesting these items can cause blockages in their systems and do a lot of damage on your cats health.
Christmas ornaments and other decorations should also be watched with your cat.
If an ornament were to break, it could cut your cat, and be deadly if they ingest the broken pieces.
Although, I would say that is true for most items in your cat. If anything breaks and your cat eats it, it could be deadly.
Will A Real Tree Hurt My Cat?
Finally, let’s talk about the Christmas tree.
Regardless of if the tree is real or fake, you want to watch out for your cats to climb the tree.
If cats climb that tree that is not sturdy, they could run the risk of knocking over the tree, and hurting themselves, along with break the ornaments like I mentioned above.
If you were going to get a real tree, you also want to watch out for the tree sap that often comes in the trees.
Sometimes these saps can make your cat sick if they are consumed and potentially cause rashes.
You will also want to be careful of the fertilizer that is used within the real tree, as this can be extremely toxic for cats. If ingested, it could kill your little fur-baby.
Christmas Safety – Identifying Hazardous Food Items
Now that you know what to be aware of when it comes to Christmas decorations, you may think you are prepared for your cat’s safety.
And that is where you would also be incorrect.
Not only do you need to be careful of the decorations for Christmas, you also want to be aware of the dangerous foods that your cats can consume over the holidays.
Like always, onions, garlic, and chocolate can be poisonous for cats.
What this does mean, however, is you should not let your cat lick up gravy.
Gravy, raw or cooked, contain two of those items and can cause real issues with your cats digestion.
You will also want to keep your cats away from alcohol, which I feel like should be a given, but I’m going to mention it.
Cats, and dogs, are much smaller than us.
That means that they have a much easier time of getting alcohol poisoning that humans so you want to make sure your cat does not drink wine with the family during the holiday season.
Hey, that’s what catnip wine is for right!
Your cat can party with you in their own safe way.
What You Can Do to Protect Your Cat
Now that I have scared you all of Christmas, let’s talk about what you can do to protect your cat during the holiday season.
This is called Christmas Safety for Cats isn’t it?!
The biggest thing you can do when it comes to ornaments and tinsel is to keep them secured and out of the reach of the cats.
This prevents them from knocking the tinsel off and ornaments will be safe from being shattered.
Just because you have cats does not mean that you cannot have your favorite decorations out.
It just means that you need to make sure they cannot be knocked down or eaten by kitties.
One Christmas hack I heard was some people will either take cat treats, or cat toys and put them at the bottom of the tree, and then keep their ornaments higher and out of reach of the cats.
The cats then play with items they’re actually supposed to be playing with, your ornaments are safe, and your tree doesn’t look bare at the bottom.
> You May Also Like: Christmas Gifts You Can Get Your Cat
Lastly for decorations, snow globes.
I personally choose to keep them out of the house.
The risk of them breaking and me losing my fur-babies is just not worth it to me. However, if snow globes are your thing, make sure you keep them in a place where animals or people can’t knock them over or get to them if they are knocked over.
I know some people with keep them in a cabinet.
They can look at the snow globes, but if somehow one breaks, there is the glass door of the cabinet to prevent curious kitties from licking before you have a change to clean it up.
Christmas Tree Tips
In terms of Christmas trees, there are a lot of things you can do to prevent any injuries.
Personally, I chose a fake tree.
In all honesty, I chose a fake tree because it was easier for me.
No watering, no cutting down a tree, no removing it after Christmas.
Once I learned there were also dangers for cats, it was kind of a no-brainer for me.
BUT!
That doesn’t mean you cannot have a real tree if you want one.
I would avoid a potted tree, as that can lead to many of the fertilizer issues I mentioned, as well as the potential of a kitten trying to use it as an extra litter box.
You can secure the live (or fake if you want) tree with either a heavy based, or you can secure it to a wall or ceiling to prevent if from falling over, even if your kitten decides to climb.
Christmas Food Tips
The holidays are hard, and if you have cats that like to try human food, this is the time you need to watch them carefully.
I usually recommend trying to keep cats out of the kitchen, especially while cooking.
This prevents them from getting stepped on, accidentally burned, or licking up something that they shouldn’t.
It is also a good idea to cover up and store your food after you have eaten.
Not only does this keep cats from accidentally getting into your food, it keeps your food fresh! So, partially for the cats, partially for yourself!
Christmas Tips
My main purpose of my entire blog is to take the stress of owning a pet away.
I know Christmas can be a stressful time for people, and dealing with a sick pet is the last thing you need.
So here are a list of Christmas Safety hacks you can do to keep your pets safe during the holidays.
- Secure your decorations to the tree as tightly as possible so that they are not easily knocked off
- If you don’t want a bare tree, hang cat toys or items that are safe for kittens to bat at the tree.
- Invest in a good quality, heavy base which will prevent your Christmas tree from toppling over or…
- Consider tethering your tree to the wall or ceiling
- Hang breakable or dangerous decorations higher up the tree, out of the reach of playful paws
- Keep snow globes out of reach of paws and children’s hands. This will prevent the possibility of the snow globe breaking and killing your cat.
- Set up a play area with some new, interesting items close to the tree to detract their attention
- Keep kittens out of the kitchen when you are baking, especially when baking with foods that are poisonous to kittens.
How Can I Keep My Cat Safe During The Holidays?
Some people seem to think that if you own a cat, you cannot decorate for Christmas.
It is true that there are a lot of dangerous items for your fur-baby to get into during the holiday.
However, it doesn’t have to be a cat or Christmas scenario.
You can have both!
You just need to make sure you are taking the proper steps to keep your cat safety during the holiday season!