With the busy holiday season fast approaching, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and caught up in the hubbub. Make sure your pets don’t get neglected or forgotten during this special time of year. We at the Chemung County SPCA have come up with some fun ways you can include your pet in all the holiday merriment! Please read below for our tips.
1. Have them help make customized holiday gifts. Pets make great assistants. Whether they are lying at your feet or participating in the gift making, they can be a big part of your holiday creations. One fun project you can do is having your pet “sign” a piece of art to send to friends and family. To do this, use a non-toxic paint and lightly coat their paws. Then gently press their paw onto the surface.
2. Include them in your family holiday photos. Pets are part of our family, so why not include them in your holiday greeting cards. This can be difficult, so make sure you have a photographer that understands animals and monitor your pets’ stress level during the process. Then you can send a holiday card with the whole family smiling on the cover.
3. Take them with you to visit a lonely neighbor or relative (*only do this if the neighbor or relative likes pets). Nothing spreads holiday cheer better than a visit from a furry friend. Lonely neighbors and relatives might love a friendly canine face. Make sure to ask first, however, if the person would mind if you brought your animal over to avoid disastrous consequences.
4. Make them their own holiday cookies. Click here for a fun and easy recipe. While baking holiday cookies it may be tempting to indulge your pets. It’s not good for animals to have the large quantities of sugar found in human cookies, so try baking them their own cookies and then cutting them out in holiday shapes just like you would regular holiday cookies. This is a safe and healthy way for your pet to indulge, in moderation.
5. Keep them safe and remove holiday hazards from their reach. Follow the tips below to have a safe and happy holiday season.
a) Even though the people in your family may overindulge on holiday delights, this is not a good idea for your pets. Feeding them excessive amounts of table scraps can lead to sickness and digestive issues, so please stick to their basic diet.
b) Also, keep unattended pets away from the holiday table. Food sitting close to the edge of the table can be too much of a temptation for pets. They can snatch items off the table, causing illness. They can also break glass, which can become lodged in their paws.
c) Keep dogs and cats away from open ovens. Sometimes curiosity can get the best of pets, causing them to get burned.
d) Keep all but the most social pets away from running children and hordes of holiday guests. Too many new people can cause your pets undue stress. Sometimes the best thing is to give them a room of their own.
e) Don’t give your pets turkey, duck or chicken bones. They are brittle and can splitter easily and can lodge in your pet’s intestines. This can leave your holiday ending in a trip to the animal hospital.
f) Be careful of holiday adornments. They can break and get painfully lodged in paws, skin and stomachs. Also, many kitties love to climb Christmas trees, so make sure to monitor your pet to avoid a disaster. Also, keep pets away from open flame.
No comments:
Post a Comment