Dr. Lucas Kandefer says there are a lot of household hazards for our pets. He says to list them all would be difficult. Major things that we look at especially as we are getting into the holiday season are that there are going to be toxins around the house. We are going to have a lot more flowers and plants and we end up with a lot more chocolate in the house. He says a lot of plants are toxic to our pets, especially our cats for lilies and things of that nature so any type of lily for the most part, you should really avoid having in your house if you have cats. Chocolate, it’s easy enough to have out if you are baking. Chcolate or cocoa is very toxic to dogs and it doesn’t take very much for it to be potentially fatal, so make sure we have an awareness of what our dogs can get to and what they can’t.
Dr. Kandefer says common things we find in the house especially as the holidays come around are dangling wires. Cats love to jump up and play in the Christmas tree so make sure that is set in one spot during the holidays. A lot more of our cables will be around and young dogs and cats love to chew on these and that could end up causing electric shocks and electric shots can be very damaging or can be even fatal.
Lastly, he always talks about a couple of things. Children, as we are coming into the house a little more often, and we are getting together it is not a hazard but is something, when they don’t know how to interact, when they don’t know how your pet is going to react or they don’t know how to read signs can really, one, be dangerous for them but two, it can set your pets up for nervous reactions in the future and these area things that can build. Dr. Kandefer says if you find you are having concerns with that or if we do have new people coming into the house have a talk with the parents or with the children themselves and let them know the ins and outs of your pets to make sure we are all safer. He says pets protect their food, protect their toys and protect people and, all these things matter.
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