5 Holiday Hazzards/Toxins Your Pets Should Avoid

While the holidays are an exciting time of the year for you and your precious pets, we can also get too busy and neglect our fur babies during the busyness or we can get too hype to celebrate the holidays so we go around and decorate all around the house but we might not be aware that some of these decors may seriously harm our pets if left unchecked. This is why it is very important to be aware of the dangers and take preventive measures to protect our pets this holiday season! But don't worry, we provided this list of holiday hazzards/toxins that you need to watch out for your precious fur baby's safety!   

Here are 5 holiday hazzards/toxins your pets should avoid: 

There are some foods that are toxic to pets that we already know. But this festive and busy season, we might keep our attention off our pets while we have these delicious but toxic foods on our table and our pets might eat them without us knowing (even the scraps on the floor might put them in danger if we keep them uncleaned!).

 Some of the most popular holiday goodies you should watch out are chocolate (the darker and richer the chocolate, the higher the risk of toxicity), fat trimmings(both cooked and uncooked), bones, nuts (almonds, macadamia nuts, non-moldy walnuts, and pistachios), baked goods like cookies, candies, grapes, raisins, currants, alcohol, can be extremely toxic or fatal to your precious pets.

Depending on the type and amount of food ingested, your pets might experience vomiting, poisoning, diarrhea, lethargy, urination, hyperactivity, heart arrhythmias, tremors and seizures, loss of muscle control (especially for nut ingestion), choking, splinters, obstruction or lacerations of your pet's throat and/or digestive system, kidney failure (especially for foods with grapes, raisins, and currants), ataxia (difficulty walking), disorientation, changes in blood pressure, and abnormal blood sugar levels (especially for alcohol intake), expand your pet’s stomach and bloating (especially for raw dough), and pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas, which is mostly experienced from leftover fatty meat scraps).

So do your best keep your pets from these foods and keep them on their regular diet and inform visitors to not give your pet special treats or table scraps. It is not wise and is very dangerous to share these treats with your pets!

If it is hard for s hoomans to resist looking and touching all those glittering and colorful decors every holiday season, it is much harder for our pets active curiosity! A lot of ornaments every holidays can be hazzardous to pets especially when they are accidentally swallowed by them! 

While some of them are not made toxic like tinsel, it is very attractive to pets, especially for cats. Shiny dangling moving decorations are temptations to pets! The list goes one from tinsels, christmas tree ornaments (can even be christmas tree itself), glass ornaments, ribbons, glittery ornaments, and twine! 

You can actually still put up these ornaments but be sure to put them high enough that your pets couldn't reach them especially for glass ornaments that could break and injure your pets with glass shards. And make sure to train them not to consume any of these decors for if they consume it, this foreign object could really be fatal as it can twist or get stuck inside your pet’s intestines. It could also lacerate your pet’s mouth, throat, and intestines which then becomes a choking hazard which can lead to emergency surgery or in the worst case scenario, death.

If you really want to have these ornaments decorated along your house, do make sure your pet is either put on a safe distance from these ornaments, trained not to get them, and heavily watched them especially if they are too hyper or play

Just like the ornaments, sparklying christmas lights and bright candles will also be hard to resist for your pets! Most pets enjoy chewing and biting on electrical cords or even play with the lights itself so if you plan to put christmas tree lights, you must be very cautious and put it somewhere safe for your pet not to play with it. It can result to tongue lacerations, electrical burns on their mouth and tongue, electrical shock or even electrocution. Even old-fashioned bubble lights contains poisonous chemicals such as methylene chloride, which can lead to irritation to the mouth and gastrointestinal tract, depression, and aspiration pneumonia if chewed on them. 

As per candles when left unchecked, your precious pets might get burned very bad if they play with it so please keep them up where they can't reach it and watch your pets carefully! Place them in hard-to-reach spots so your pets can't jump on them and access them. Not only can your pets seriously burn themselves, but knocking over candles creates a fire hazard and may leave hot wax all over the place which will easily burn the pads of their paws or even burn your house!

So remember to watch them carefully when you have these lights around the house and don't forget to unplug indoor lights when you are not at home.

Holiday plants are very pretty especially flowers, but some of them are very poisonous that even when your pet inhaled it, it can result to death. Some plants you need to watch for are lilies, christmas tree pine needles, holly berries, ivy, mistletoe, yew plants (which is used for holiday wreaths), and poinsettia. These plants can produce oral irritation, vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, trembling, posterior weakness, depression, coma, difficulty breathing, collapse, erratic behavior, hallucinations, and in worst case scenario, death when ingested especially in large portions!

Some of these plants ,especially lilies, are commonly used by florists. Even just one or two bites can cause kidney failure in cats, even the pollen and the water that the plant is in are poisonous so they should not drink it! The spiny leaves of toxic substances these plants can also cause pets to smack their lips, drool, and shake their head excessively due to irritation.

Keep all decorative plants out of your pet's reach or outside the house and watch out for these plants especially like lilies and poinsettia which really poisonous to cats and dogs. If your pet ingests, inhales or even get near to it and their signs of illness persist especially for more than 24 hours, you should contact your veterinarian right away!

I'm sure most of us pet owners know that our pet's ears are very very sensitive! A dog and cat's sense of hearing are a many times louder than our hearing. So imagine how loud holiday noises are to them especially in new year! The list goes on from fireworks, horns, bells, firecrackers, whistles, and even loud music from speakers or your holiday shouts can be extremely loud, stressful, and frightening to our precious pets!

So make sure pets are in a safe place especially if you know your holiday parties are going to be loud! Keep them away from all the noise or maybe keep it down so they can join the fun. If fireworks, firecrackers, horns, etc. are a particular problem around holidays such as New Year’s Eve where maybe a lot of our neighbors like to use them, you can actually talk to your trusted veterinarian about getting some sedatives to help calm your anxious fur babies.

We should keep in mind about all these indoor and outdoor toxins frequently seen during this time of year and it is our responsibility to keep our precious pets from any danger! Also, keeping your pets healthy and safe will help us keep your holidays stress-free as well. If your pet seems to have accidentally eaten or bruised, always be ready to contact your trusted veterinarian right away! I'm sure even this holiday season, they are willing to help in time of need! Keep every member of your family safe and happy this season!

Feel free to share this with your fellow pet owner who needs this! You can also leave a comment down below about your experiences and other holiday hazzards/toxins and precautions pet owners should take this holiday season, we would also love to read them!

Smartpaw is wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

We do hope you have a safe and happy holidays!