Preparing Your Pet For The Holidays: Tips for a Safe and Stress-Free Season

Celebrating the holidays with pets can be full of delights, but the season also has the potential to upend their daily routines and any recent progress in training. Plus, holiday foods, travel, events, and decorations can endanger a pet’s health, safety, and security. With our tips for a safe and stress-free holiday, you and your pet can not only enjoy the season, but look forward to many more together. 

Identifying Stress and Anxiety

Even slight departures from a pet’s daily schedule can affect their state of mind. During the holidays, it’s easy to become overly busy or distracted. Try to maintain the times of your pet’s meals, bathroom breaks, exercise, and bedtimes to limit feelings of confusion, doubt, and fear and the following associated symptoms:

• Panting
• Pacing
• Whining
• Drooling
• Yawning
• Unfocused barking
• Inappetance
• Destructive behavior

If you’re unable to meet their needs at precise times, doggy daycare, pet sitters, or dog walkers are excellent alternatives. During crowded or loud holiday gatherings, be sure that your pet has a place to retreat to if needed. A quiet room away from the action that has fresh water, cozy bedding, and favorite toys can increase feelings of safety and well-being.

Exercise can reduce pent up energy and thwart edginess, uncertainty, and anxiety.

Holiday Decorations

As soon as the boxes of decorations enter the living space, pets are invariably curious. Glass ornaments, string lights, tinsel, and snow globes are among the biggest threats to holiday pet safety. Try these strategies to reduce accidental injury this holiday season:

• Decorate either the entire Christmas tree with non-breakable ornaments, or at least the bottom half.
• Be sure that electric cords are positioned off the floor or in areas that could result in entanglement, strangulation, or electric shock.
• In all of its dazzling shininess and eye-catching movement, tinsel can cause serious gastrointestinal obstruction.
• Anchoring the Christmas tree will keep it upright if a pet decides to jump or climb the branches. A fallen tree can mean lots of broken ornaments…and possible injury.
• Cover the tree stand so your pet can’t drink potentially contaminated water. 
• Be careful of wrapping paper, bows, and ribbon. Try to place presents under the tree right before the gift exchange, and remove trash immediately afterward.
• Simmering potpourri, flame candles, and snow globes should be displayed on surfaces not accessible by pets.

Pet Holiday Safety

Holiday plants, including poinsettias, mistletoe, holly, and Christmas rose can result in cardiovascular and GI conditions. 

Foods that are in abundance this time of year can present serious risks to pet health. Be sure to keep food away from the edges of tables and countertops, and to keep your pet free from harm, never allow them to have access to the following toxic foods:

• Onions
• Garlic
• Grapes.raisins
• Xylitol
• Chocolate
• Alcohol
• Coffee

Take extra care to remove trash receptacles and secure waste bins to reduce the chances of a pet finding discarded poultry skin, gravy, fatty meats, bones, and buttery desserts. 

Stress Free Holidays

If your pet needs extra support this holiday season, please give us a call at (830) 313–5290. Our team at Borgfeld Animal Hospital is always here to help.