Oh, The Weather Outside Is Frightful: Keeping Your Pets Safe From The Hidden Dangers of Christmas
December 19th, 2013
Oh, The Weather Outside Is Frightful: Keeping Your Pets Safe From The Hidden Dangers of Christmas
From Barley and Guinness (with some help from our dog mom, Jeanne)
As we prepare for the Christmas time events, we who have pets must try to remember that this can be a dangerous time for our pets. Trees, lights and decorations can be a temptation to our four-legged friends. While putting up a tree over the years, I've learned not to put too many decorations on the bottom of the tree as tails and claws can easily knock them off. If ornaments are broken and eaten, they can cause great harm to pets! Poinsettias and chocolate are very poisonous to our pets as well! If they eat a leaf or get into the candy bowl, dogs and cats can become very ill (sometimes even resulting in death) if proper treatment is not given immediately. I know from our dogs Barley and Guinness that they will try to get their paws on anything and everything they can! Our dogs' adventurous appetites can cause great problems this time of year.
Our dog mom tries (the key word being "tries") not to feed us any table foods, but when she has a house full of company and we (Barley & Guinness) are so dog-darn cute, some people can't help but give us something off their plates. Mom tries to watch this all year, but at this time of year it's hard! She does, however, set dog treats out for us so if someone just has to give us something they can give us what we get on a daily basis so it doesn't upset our stomachs. Yes, she limits the treats we get. She is strict with us but she is a caring and loving dog mom. Cleaning up a mess from us can be avoided if our guests don't feed us their rich foods from their plates!
Also, as the weather turns colder outside please make sure to bring your pets inside if you can. If you can't, please make sure they have a proper shelter where they can get away from the elements of the outdoor winter weather. Fresh water and food are very important this time of year. Water freezes very fast in the cold, so please check on the water situation often. Also, please remember if it is too cold for you to stay outside it is too cold for our pets too! Although they may have a fur coat, that can only help so much! So please, if you can, get your pets inside for the night or make sure they have extra blankets, straw or hay and that they can get inside a doghouse or someplace out of the harsh weather. Keeping our four-legged friends warm, dry and safe this time of year is just as important as it is when they are left out in the heat of summer.
So from all of us at Bordas & Bordas we wish you and your pets a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
;)
