Reviewed by Dr. Fiona Lee
The holidays are a festive time of good cheer and goodwill shared among family, friends, and of course, our beloved pets. December means not only lots of delicious treats, but also twinkling and glowing holiday decorations.
But if you have pets, these tasty treats and pretty decorations can be dangerous. This is especially true if your dog or cat is prone to getting into the wrong things! So, in the spirit of a safe holiday season, here's a look at decorations and food that can pose serious hazards to your precious dogs or cats this holiday season.
Holiday food hazards
When you're looking for tips on keeping your cat or dog safe during the holidays, the best place to start is with the food. Christmas with pets can be fun, but Christmas food shouldn't be included in the festivities.
1. Table scraps
What are the holidays without feasts? Unfortunately, a lot of holiday food is bad for dogs and cats. In general, it's not a good idea to give your pet table scraps. First, feeding a pet from the table encourages begging, which is best avoided. But even worse, many foods and spices that you're serving can be toxic to your pets.
For example, chicken and turkey skin, ham or other fatty cuts of meat can be dangerous. Any food with high-fat content can put your pet in danger of developing pancreatitis. Pancreatitis is a painful condition caused by inflammation of the pancreas, the organ that secretes digestive enzymes into the stomach. Symptoms of pancreatitis can vary from mild gastrointestinal (GI) issues to severe enough distress to warrant hospitalization.20
Grapes and raisins are other dangerous foods to avoid in pets. The exact mechanism of grape and raisin toxicity isn't known, but the tartaric acid in them is thought to be the culprit behind their ability to cause kidney damage. The actual toxic amount can vary widely from pet to pet, but even a small number of grapes can be toxic to a small dog.1
Besides fatty foods and grapes, there are a lot of other toxic foods, including onions, garlic and macadamia nuts. It's best to avoid table scraps altogether so you don't accidentally feed your pet something dangerous.
2. Sugar-free treats
The sugar-free sweetener Xylitol is found in a lot of candies and gums, but just a small amount can potentially lead to life-threatening hypoglycemia and liver failure in dogs and cats.2 Xylitol can also lurk in vitamins and supplements, so be sure to keep these out of reach too.
3. Chocolate desserts
Chocolate is especially toxic for dogs and cats—both the caffeine and theobromine in this treat are dangerous to your pets.3 High doses can lead to diarrhea, vomiting, tremors, seizures, high heart rates or even death. And the darker the chocolate, the more concentrated the theobromine.
4. Bones
Don't give your dog or cat a bone from your table scraps, no matter how much they beg. Bones from chicken, turkey or other animals are dangerous for pets. The bone pieces can cause severe indigestion, vomiting or even bowel obstruction. Sharp bone shards can damage your pet's delicate stomach and intestinal walls or puncture their stomach. This can leave your pet at risk of a fatal abdominal infection.
5. Raw dough
You may be doing a lot of baking for the holidays, which can include homemade bread or rolls. But be careful—raw dough and yeast are dangerous for dogs and cats. The dough can expand in your pet's stomach, causing pain and life-threatening ruptures or torsions. The yeast and sugar can also ferment, potentially leading to fatal alcohol toxicity.
Holiday decoration hazards
'Tis the season for boughs of holly, but all those festive holiday decorations can also pose threats to your furry family members. Consider these holiday tips as you deck the halls.
6. The Christmas tree
Is Christmas tree water bad for cats and dogs? There's always something enticing to pets about novel sources of water, like the fresh water in a Christmas tree stand. But be vigilant and keep your kitty or pup away from it!
Christmas tree water may contain fertilizers, preservatives and pesticides, which can cause stomach upset if ingested. The stagnant water can also be a breeding ground for bacteria, which can lead to vomiting, nausea and diarrhea.4 Try to keep the water covered or use a heavy tree skirt.
Artificial Christmas trees can also become a danger when pieces of plastic break off of them. If ingested by your pet, this can cause intestinal blockage or mouth irritation.
What about live trees? Can dogs eat Christmas trees? While live trees (like pine, spruce or fir) are typically not toxic, the little needles can cause mouth irritation if your dog or cat tries to eat them.5 So watch out for pets that might be tempted to nibble on the needles.
Whether you're using an artificial or real Christmas tree, make sure to anchor it away from fragile items like windows or glass tables in case your pet decides to try to climb the tree.
7. Holiday ornaments and tinsel
Keep ornaments that could be broken out of your pet's reach. You might even consider using pet-safe ornaments or a flexible pet gate around the base of your Christmas tree.
Tinsel is another potentially unsafe piece of Christmas decor. Many pets cannot resist tinsel since it's shiny and often moving. Although the sight of your cat playing with strands of tinsel may be cute, the ingestion of tinsel can be deadly for your cat or dog.
Eating tinsel can cause serious damage to the intestine. Swallowing tinsel can cause it to become obstructed in a pet's digestive tract, leading to vomiting, dehydration or even emergency surgery. 4
In addition to being very painful, if not caught in time, tinsel or string ingestion can lead to peritonitis (infection of the belly cavity). Peritonitis can be life-threatening at worst, and very expensive to treat at best. If your pet has eaten something like this, signs might include refusing to eat, vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, belly pain and sometimes fever.6
What about glitter? Is it dangerous for cats or dogs? If they happen to lick a little off the floor, they should be fine.7 But check the label—an AP (Approved Product) label from the Art and Creative Materials Institute means it's not toxic, while a CL (Cautionary Labeling) label means you should contact your veterinarian if your pet gets into it. Overall, it's best to be cautious and keep glitter where your pet can't reach it.
8. Holiday lights & candles
Decorative lights are another holiday attraction that can be enticing for cats and dogs to chew on. But electrical shock can occur if dogs or cats bite into a strand of lights that's plugged in. This can also cause burns, especially in the mouth, difficulty breathing due to congestion in the lungs, abnormal heart rhythm, loss of consciousness and even death.8 Call your veterinarian immediately if your pet has been injured by electrical shock. Treatment will be most effective if begun soon after the shock.
You can keep your pets from chewing on electrical cords by hiding them or rerouting them under furniture, encasing them in PVC pipes or other protective coverings or spraying them with taste deterrents.9 If your pet just won't stay away from the lights on your tree, you can try blocking off the tree with pet gates. Or ditch the electrical lights and use battery-powered ornaments instead.
Curious cats have also been known to knock down candles, causing house fires. Never leave candles unattended with a cat or dog in the house, and always keep electrical cords and candles out of reach of pets.
9. Potpourri
Part of completing the holiday atmosphere may include seasonal scents in the form of potpourri or essential oils in diffusers. Several liquid potpourri and essential oil products like oil of cinnamon, citrus, pennyroyal, peppermint, pine, sweet birch, tea tree, wintergreen and ylang-ylang can be toxic to dogs and cats if ingested.10
Holiday plant hazards
Plants placed around the house during the holidays may be festive, but they can be a possible source of danger to pets.11
10. Fragrant lilies
Probably the most important plant to worry about is the fragrant lily (such as tiger lilies, Asiatic lilies and Stargazer lilies), which is commonly found in holiday arrangements and is highly toxic to cats. Just one chewed leaf can result in severe, acute kidney failure. While these lilies are not fatal to dogs, they can upset their digestive system.12
11. Mistletoe
Mistletoe contains extremely toxic chemicals such as lectins and phorat
oxins. Severe toxicity in pets only occurs if a large quantity is consumed; however, mistletoe can affect the heart and lower blood pressure. Best to keep it out of reach.13
12. Holly
Holly is not commonly ingested, as it is a "prickly" plant. However, when it is brought inside as a decoration, cats especially appear to find it quite tasty. All parts of the holly plant are considered to be toxic. Holly has methylxanthines, saponins and ilicin as some of its toxic components. The good news is that true toxicoses are not generally expected in cats. Most ingestions cause GI irritation and depression and don't require treatment.14
13. Poinsettias
Red and white poinsettias definitely add to holiday cheer, but they also have a milky white latex sap that can be irritating to your pet's mouth and stomach. Although symptoms are usually mild, poinsettia toxicity can cause drooling, vomiting and diarrhea.15
Instead of these toxic plants, look for holiday plants that are safe for your cat and dog. Roses, spider plants and Christmas cactus aren't poisonous to pets.16 Other safe plants include African violets, Boston ferns and prayer plants. However, since even a safe plant can cause stomach distress in a sensitive pet, try to keep all plants out of reach.
Guest hazards
Guests can cause unexpected safety hazards for your pets, so keep these holiday tips in mind if guests are visiting.
14. Noise
Sensitive pets may not enjoy the noise or foot traffic from lots of guests, especially during a festive party. So take the same types of precautions you would use on Halloween. Overly protective or sensitive pets (whether cats or dogs) should have a quiet room they can stay in while guests are over. The room should have a comfy bed, their favorite treats, water and food. It'll be even better if you can play soft music or use a white noise machine to help them feel cozy.
15. Trash
Remind your guests to be careful with their trash. Curious dogs and cats may try to poke their nose into trash, especially if something inside has an enticing scent. Make sure your guests use trash cans that have secure lids your pets can't get into. (The same goes for purses and bags! Make sure these stay out of your pets' reach.)
16. Pet etiquette
Teach your guests about proper "pet etiquette" if they're going to be around your dog or cat.17 That means reminding them not to feed table scraps or human food to your pets. You'll also want to set some ground rules, like whether or not they can approach your pet first or if they can use your pet's favorite toy to play with them. The ground rules will typically depend on your cat or dog's personality.
What if your pet gets into something toxic?
No matter what precautions you take, somethings things go wrong. If your dog or cat eats something toxic, get to an emergency veterinarian as quickly as possible. Whether or not you should induce vomiting, for example, depends on the type of toxin your pet ingested, since some situations can get worse if you try to induce vomiting. The best thing to do is to call pet poison control or your veterinarian ASAP.18
Choking
If your pet is choking on something, that's a different situation. A pet who's pawing at his face, gagging or drooling, or whose tongue or gums are turning blue may be choking.19 You may need to perform the Heimlich maneuver:
- Check if anything's stuck in his mouth that you can flick to the side. Always be cautious not to get bitten. Even the friendliest pet can bite when scared.
- If you can't find anything, hold your pet with his back against your chest and his head up.
- Put your hands around his waist and clasp them together under his rib cage, making quick, upward thrusts. For larger pets, you may need to do this motion while they're lying on their side.
- Call your veterinarian for follow-up instructions.
- Preparation tip: Ask your veterinarian to demonstrate how to do this or to recommend videos that showcase the best method.
From Pets Best
The holidays are a time when you can create warm memories with your loved ones, including your furry family. Just keep a close eye on your four-legged family members to make sure they don't get into things that will cause them harm.
Even for the most careful pet parents, unexpected accidents and illnesses can still occur. That's where pet insurance comes in handy. Pets Best offers pet insurance plans that can cover up to 90% of your pet's unexpected veterinary costs. And policyholders have access to a 24/7 veterinarian helpline.
Get a quote to customize your plan today.
Sources
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2"Xylitol Toxicity in Cats & Dogs," Dr. Jeff (March 14, 2016), Sunnyview Animal Care Center, https://sunnyview-vet.com/2016/03/14/xylitol-toxicity-in-cats-dogs/, accessed December 15, 2022.
3"Management of chocolate intoxication," P.A. Volmer and M.E. Rosendale (2002), Standards of Care: Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Vol 4. (6), pp. 1-5.
4"ASPCA Offers Pet Safety Tips for the Holiday Season,"(November 20, 2013), ASPCA, https://www.aspca.org/about-us/press-releases/aspca-offers-pet-safety-tips-holiday-season, accessed December 15, 2022.
5"Are Christmas Trees Poisonous to Cats and Dogs? Melissa Murray (February 27, 2022), The Spruce Pets, https://www.thesprucepets.com/are-christmas-trees-poisonous-to-cats-and-dogs-3385508, accessed December 15, 2022.
6"Gastrointestinal foreign bodies in dogs and cats: a retrospective study of 208 cases," G. Hayes (November 2, 2009), Journal of Small Animal Practice, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1748-5827.2009.00783.x, accessed December 15, 2022.
7"Crafting with Care: Pet Safety Tips for Holiday Arts and Crafts," (December 6, 2016), ASPCA, https://www.aspca.org/news/crafting-care-pet-safety-tips-holiday-arts-and-crafts, accessed December 15, 2022.
8"Electrical Injuries in Animals: Causes, Pathogenesis, and Morphological findings," C. Schulze et al. (July 11, 2016), Veterinary Pathology, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0300985816643371, accessed December 15, 2022.
9"How to Keep Your Cat Out of the Christmas Tree," LeeAnna Buis (December 1, 2022), Preventive Vet, https://www.preventivevet.com/cats/how-to-keep-your-cat-out-of-the-christmas-tree, accessed December 15, 2022.
10"Your Cat Ate What?" Michael Peterson (February 21, 2011), 83rd Annual Western Veterinary Conference, Las Vegas, NV.
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12Toxic Plants of North America, Second Edition, G.E. Burrows and R.J. Tyrl (January 2013), Wiley-Blackwell, Ames, IA.
13"Mistletoe 'American,'" ASPCA, https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/mistletoe-american, accessed December 15, 2022.
14"Holly," ASPCA, https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/holly, accessed December 15, 2022.
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