The 12 dogs of Christmas

12 dogs of Christmas graphic produced by Pet365 - a UK stockist of brands like Waifs and Strays & Hamish McBeth. Click below to see the full size version.

Seasonal Dangers

from desktopnexus.com

It is the festive time of year again, when we hang up all kinds of beautiful decorations, have a dish full of Santa Claus chocolates or Hannukah Gelt, and maybe a Christmas tree. It brightens the Winter landscape. Unfortunately, pets can get into some trouble while investigating all the shiny new things around them.

1. Tree Hazards. When decorating your tree, it may be best not to use tinsel, ribbons or bubble lights, or put them on higher branches. When ingested, tinsel and ribbons can cause all sorts of internal injuries. Bubble lights have a toxic liquid inside them that causes the bubbles, and you can find out about safe replacement bulbs here. Decoration hooks should be kept off the floor when trimming the tree, and any type of ornament can cause an obstruction. If you have a crazy cat that won't stay out of the tree and away from ornaments, you may want to forego the tree entirely, and hang some fresh wreaths around on your walls and decorate them. Tree water can be very unhealthy, because it is stagnant, and if you add the preservative, it can be deadly. Be sure to choose a covered tree water dish, or one with a narrow opening such as this Ultimate stand. It may be more of a chore to water, but your pets will be safe.

2. Fire Salts. These will change the color of the flames in your fireplace, but the salts themselves contain heavy metals, which will cause gastrointestinal upset, vomiting, and pain if eaten. If you really want to have a different colored fire, making colored fire pinecones is a simple and safe project at home.

3. Household plants. Pine trees, mistletoe, holly are traditional plants of the Christmas season, but can be deadly to animals, especially the berries. Keep away from pets. Poinsettia plants, while irritating to the mouth and stomach, are generally overrated in toxicity. Check out the ASCPA's full list of toxic plants here.

4. Chocolate. While different kinds of chocolate have different sorts of toxicity for animals, when caught quickly enough, we can make them vomit to prevent any health problems. However, foil wrapped chocolates are especially dangerous. If we make a pet vomit after eating foil wrappers, it can cut up their esophagus and stomach, causing even worse problems. Any foil-wrapped candy needs to stay in the cabinet, without fail. Educate your children on the best thing for their furry friend.
When in doubt, put yourself in your pet's paws. They don't know what's going to keep them safe. They only know that something smells good or is fun to chew. So have mindful, safe, and happy holidays!