Tag archives: holidays

Holiday Pet Safety

Holiday Pet Safety

‘Tis the season of holiday festivities. Delicious food, and festive decorations, and holiday parties – oh my! While these activities are exciting and fun, they can pose potential dangers to your pets. The holidays are expensive enough as it is, don’t let an emergency trip to the vet make an even larger dent in your wallet! By educating yourself on the following, you can avoid a jingle bell flop.

Food Safety:

Whether you are cooking or eating holiday meals, it can sometimes be tempting to share some with those big puppy dog eyes looking up to you. However, you should avoid feeding your pets scraps as many holiday foods can cause more harm than good. In addition, be careful where you place your food in case you have any counter-surfing pets who will grab food from the table when you’re not looking.

  • If your pet eats a large amount of fatty meat, such as ham, it can potentially cause side effects such as vomiting and diarrhea due to the high salt and sodium content within the meat.
  • Chocolate and other desserts are a holiday staple. However, chocolate in particular is very harmful to pets because it contains caffeine and theobromine ...

Are you helping your dog stay on Santa's good dog list?

Are you helping your dog stay on Santa's good dog list?

HO, HO, OH NO! If you’ve recently been to a local department store, you were likely made well aware that the holiday season is upon us. It may be that my recollections of youth have faded some over the years, but does anyone remember holiday decorations in stores before Halloween when they were kids? I sure don’t. Another thing I can’t remember from my youth is anyone warning us about potential dangers to our dogs during the holiday season. The canine exodus from the backyard to the bedroom over the past 30 or so years has been remarkable. Development of once-monthly parasite control and changing social, cultural and familial norms have been important contributing factors to the modern, intimate relationship with our former hairy lawn ornaments. With this change, comes a different set of responsibilities in keeping our dogs safe and healthy. Once threatened by wild animals, parasites and seasonal extremes, our dogs now face a multitude of new threats to their health associated with the modern American lifestyle.

Halloween to New Year’s Day is an interesting time to be an emergency veterinarian. Whether it is food, decorations, or other hazards, many dogs end up learning the hard way that ...