The Christmas Tree Crashers

Some animals can be more than intrigued with Christmas trees and all of the glittery, shiny balls that adorn them.  With this being said, it is asked, “Are these special little trinkets that we don our trees truly harmful to our pets?”  The answer is, yes.  They are actually.

If you think about it, Christmas is full of things we use for decorations that are right up an animal’s alley in the way of toys.  We use garland, tinsel, pine-smelling this and pine-smelling that, things that jingle, things that jangle, bells, things that squeak like mice and so on.  It’s a pet’s “Graceland” to be surrounded by so many wonderful things!  So, what can we as pet owners do if the furry members of our family refuse to leave the tree alone?  Make it pet-friendly!

Below are just a few suggestions (please feel free to post your suggestions as well at the bottom of this post!):
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• Avoid using the little wire hooks (ornament hangars) and instead use the fabric loops that are already built-in to the ornament.  The wire hooks are nasty little guys when it comes to having them around pets. Think of these things as fish hooks because they can have the same damaging consequences
• Use fabric ornaments and not plastic or glass, which can break in lots of many little pieces if the pets knock them off the trees;
• Decorate the lower part of the tree and keep the decorations about 2/3 of the way up and higher.  At least if the decorations are higher, you may be able to grab your pet before they capture an ornament
• Try and avoid using tinsel or garland, which is extremely hazardous to cats and dogs especially if ingested (garland can cause intestinal obstructions in animals)
• For those persistent fur-kids that refuse to surrender on pursuing the items in the tree, you can place scat mats down on the floor by the tree 
  

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Finally, keep one eye and one ear open at all times if you have indoor pets.  The trees alone (real or artificial) are toxic in and of themselves if ingested.

A great source for more information can be found on vetmedicine.about.com.

Merry Christmas and here’s to a very memorable year of decorating your Christmas tree, if you choose to have one!