Happy Holidays from all of us at Western Animal Clinic! We know how wild the holiday season can be, so we wanted to offer some tips to make sure life doesn’t get too hectic for your pet. While the holidays bring so much good to our lives, it also brings additional hazards for our pets.

Fire and burn hazards.

• A curious pet could knock over a burning candle, causing a fire, or could stick her nose near one and burn herself.
• Those tempting wires might look like a tasty or interesting treat to your pet, but they could deliver a potentially deadly electric shock when chewed.
• Prevent your pet from chewing a toy with a battery in it—punctured batteries can cause burns to the mouth and esophagus.

Choking hazards.

• Those shiny ornaments might look appetizing to your pet, but the broken pieces can damage her digestive tract.
• Cats love tinsel, but tinsel does not love cats. Swallowing tinsel and other stringy items, like yarn and ribbon, can lead to a bowel obstruction, vomiting, dehydration, and even death.
• Give your pup a new ball that’s too big for him to swallow. Regular-size tennis balls can get lodged in the throat and block the airway.

Toxic substances.

• If holly or mistletoe are ingested, your pet could suffer gastrointestinal upset. Mistletoe can also cause cardiovascular problems.
• Many varieties of lilies can cause kidney failure in cats.
• Christmas tree water could contain fertilizers and bacteria that can cause nausea, upset stomach, or diarrhea if ingested.
• Chocolate, artificial sweeteners (like xylitol), fatty or spicy foods, alcohol, grapes, and other human foods can, at best, cause an upset stomach, and, at worst, be fatal, if pets consume them. Keep the human food on the human table, and give your pets some special animal-friendly holiday treats instead.
• Human medications should be secured so pets can’t unknowingly get into them.

Stress.

• Give your pets a quiet, calm space away from the craziness and noise of holiday gatherings.
• Use calming pheromone products, like Adaptil (for dogs) and Feliway (for cats) to mitigate anxiety. These products are available as plug-in diffusers, collars, or sprays.

If you find yourself in an emergency situation, please call London Regional Veterinary Emergency and Referral Hospital at 519.432.3300.