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Holiday Hazards

With the holiday season in full gear, our homes can get filled with decorations and foods that pose potential dangers to pets. While many pets are curious about the gifts, trimmings, sweet treats and trees, these seasonal goodies can threaten the safety, and possibly life, of these furry family friends.

Holiday plants, especially mistletoe berries, can be most harmful, warns Todd Tams, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for VCA Animal Hospitals, the largest network of free-standing animal hospitals in the United States. Ingested pine needles can puncture a pet’s intestines. Juice ingested or leaves nibbled from poinsettia, mistletoe, holly, and Christmas greens are toxic enough to cause severe intestinal damage, and possibly death of a dog or cat. If your pet exhibits unusual symptoms, the best course of action is to take them immediately to your veterinarian.

Even the smallest amounts of holiday chocolate, depending on the size of an animal, can be extremely harmful. Other foods, such as ham, steak and poultry bones, should not be offered and kept out of reach. Human food can be too rich for most pets and can cause intestinal disease as well as perforations and obstructions to the stomach. Additionally, other fatty foods we as humans lavishly enjoy during the holidays can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Poultry bones and carcass can splinter easily, if chewed or swallowed, causing serious damage to internal organs.

Pets are often inquisitive about items found on Christmas trees. Breakable tree ornaments, angel hair, tinsel, ribbon, hooks, rubber bands and strings of lights are especially dangerous. If ingested and swallowed, these holiday staples can lead to obstruction in the gastrointestinal tract. A veterinarian may need to perform surgery or use an endoscope in order to remove obstructing objects.

All tree decorations and ornaments should be hung high enough from the bottom, making them inaccessible to pets. Also, pets may be tempted to drink water from the base of the tree, which is enough to cause diarrhea, mouth sores, vomiting and loss of appetite. Owners should place a tree skirt securely around the trunk to prevent pets from becoming ill.

Holiday Hazards brought to you by Susan Sims, Publisher of Fido Friendly, the travel and lifestyle magazine for you and your dog.
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