The holidays are upon us; it’s a festive time for many of our clients. We are excited to see families celebrating with loved ones and their pets. Because we are pet-obsessed, however, today we're sharing our top holiday safety tips for pets to keep everyone safe while enjoying the season.
Top Holiday Safety Tips for Pets: Food & Drink
The holidays go with delicious food and drink like Christmas trees go with lights and ornaments. Because the season's smells will inevitably attract our pets, it’s critical to keep food items secured, covered, and away from our pets.
When cooking, keep pets out of the kitchen to prevent tripping hazards, burns, and distractions. Busy holiday baking can be quite the production, therefore, pets will be safest where their paws, noses, and fur (gross!) won’t interfere. Consider getting your dog or cat a safe, high-quality bone, toy, or chew to enjoy while you’re elbow-deep in ingredients.
In addition, while the holidays are a great time to let our hair down and relax, don't relax where illness and accident prevention are concerned. We encourage you to keep an eye on all plates, cups, and glasses. Many holiday favorites like sweets, chocolate, booze, and coffee can be highly toxic to our pets. It’s best to get into the habit of eating and drinking at the counter or dining table. And, consider placing pets in a safe space while you entertain, which you can plan with the help of our most recent blog.
Top Holiday Safety Tips for Pets: Entertaining & Guests
Speaking of entertaining, pets can be overwhelmed and out of due to all the changes of the holiday season. They, therefore, need tolerance, patience, and compassion when they hide, act out, or, heaven forbid, pee on guests’ shoes. In addition, bringing a person into your home who is afraid of pets, highly allergic, or dislikes pets in general will only add to the stress of the season so think twice about overnight guests who aren't pet-friendly. Remember, your pet lives there, your guests don't.
Also, make sure you have safeguards in place to prevent pet loss this time of year. Remind your guests to mind your pet's whereabouts around doorways and make sure your pets are wearing ID tags just in case. Here are some additional recommendations to keep pets safe and at ease during festivities and holiday celebrations.
Finally, consider keeping pets in a safe space if elderly or disabled guests come to visit. Once they are safely seated, your pets can join in the fun. And, prevent bites and scratches by keeping pets away from unfamiliar guests, especially kids. Never force a pet to engage with a guest and always supervise interactions to ensure that everyone is safe and enjoying their new friends.
Top Holiday Safety Tips for Pets: Maintaining Routines
The best way to ease your pets into the holiday season is to maintain routines, especially their playtime and exercise. In addition, limit table foods and keep them on their usual meals, walks, and rest to prevent illness or unwanted boredom behaviors.
While you may be looking forward to resting, relaxing, and catching up on sleep, your pet craves stability and predictability. As we've mentioned many times, pets are creatures of habit and thrive in routine.
The more exercise they get, fun toys they engage with, and safety they enjoy, the happier the holidays will be for everone!
If your holiday season takes a turn and you need additional help, consider giving us a call. We’re happy to help - based on availability - and welcome your requests. We always do our best to accommodate our established clients even if our availability is limited during peak seasons. We take our job of caring for your pets very seriously and thank you for allowing us the pleasure to spend our days with them.
If you are new to Hearts at Home, please complete a new client questionnaire here. For more information, visit our website or contact us by email at Hello@HeartsAtHomePetSitting.com or by phone at 757-745-9868. We are limiting the number of new clients we can take at this point but are happy to get things started for 2024.
Our pet sitters and dog walkers provide in-home pet care services for Yorktown, Poquoson, Newport News and Hampton, Virginia.
We hope our Top Holiday Safety Tips for Pets list helps you enjoy your holiday celebrations to the fullest. Happy Holidays!