Keep Your Pets Safe This Holiday Season

The holidays are a busy time, and can be filled with celebrations with family and friends. For your dog or cat, these celebrations can be a source of stress and even danger. With a little planning, you can make your fur kid's holiday a happy one.

Some traditional seasonal decorations can be toxic to dogs and cats. Holly, poinsettia, ivy and mistletoe are all toxic to pets. If you want these traditional favorites in your home look for artificial versions. The silk versions look great and can be used year after year, saving you some money, too. Tinsel and ribbons can cause a bowel obstruction if your dog or cat eats it, so keep those well out of reach. Wrapped presents look wonderful under the tree, but to avoid your dog opening packages early storing them out of reach is a good idea.

For many families celebrations include a holiday meal. Make sure your dog or cat isn't self serving when you aren't paying attention. Sometimes well meaning relatives are slipping your pup treats when you aren't looking. All of this can cause upset tummies, so plan ahead to avoid the problem. For the family members that really want to give treats, have some healthy dog safe goodies available. Have a long lasting chew or puzzle toy ready to keep your dog busy. Giving your dog some exercise before the guests arrive helps keep excitement levels under control.

Foods to Avoid: Chocolate, onions, avocados, grapes, raisins. Cooked bones of any kind. Turkey skin and gravy are high fat and could cause pancreatitis, a painful inflammation of the pancreas. Raw yeast doughs can cause stomach bloating. The salt dough recipe used for hand made ornaments is very toxic to dogs. Keep these well out of reach.

Foods to Share: white meat turkey, sweet potatoes, green veggies. (Save some out before seasoning or adding butter, cheese or brown sugar).

If a family picture is one of your traditions, don't forget to include your furry family members! It can be challenging to get your cat or dog to cooperate at home, so bring them to our Pet Pictures with Santa! We will be happy to do a family group picture that you will be proud to have on your Holiday cards. All proceeds from this event go to Fido's Companion Rescue so you know you are supporting a good cause, too.

There are some pet friendly holiday events in our area, so follow us on Facebook to see what's going on. www.facebook.com/TheGratefulDogBakery/

The information in this blog came from articles in Dogster Magazine and DogsNaturally.com. If you are looking for well researched and interesting articles, either publication would be a good place to start.