We all love to decorate our home with Christmas motifs and feel the warmth of this long-awaited party. We get great fir trees and buy flashy garlands to adorn our house in true American style. However, how does your pet react to these decorations?
If the answer is "bites them", "plays with them" or "tries to catch them", you should rethink this year's Christmas decorations and pay special attention to all thoseChristmas decorations dangerous for pets On our site we want to help you and, therefore, we offer you a list with the decorations and the consequences of not taking the necessary measures.
What you should know before decorating your house
Before delving into each of the dangerous Christmas decorations for our pets, it is essential to talk about the location of the decorative motifs. Since the Christmas tree is the object that collects the most harmful decorations, we must pay special attention to where to place it. As much as we like to show off a large, leafy tree full of decorations, if our pet is a puppy, tends to bite objects, pounce on them or is a curious adult, we will have no choice but to opt for a Christmas tree more small, that we can place out of reach. Keep in mind that it could be eaten or crushed by it if it falls on top of the animal.
To determine which is the best place, we must look at both the height of our pet and its climbing skills. This means that we will have to place the tree in a place that is higher than it, and difficult to reach if our pet is a cat. We must apply the same logic to the Christmas garlands that we use to decorate the facade of our house or the interior, and the hanging objects.
Christmas wires and lights
Many people decide to install Christmas lights in their garden or Christmas tree, and the result is a truly spectacular decoration. But have you thought about the consequences for your pet? Especially if our little companion is a dog that likes to chew everything it finds, a restless kitten that is attracted to all shiny objects or a rodent that we let loose around the house, we must keep out of reach both wires and Christmas lights.
When installing it is important to keep the cables neatly collected, if they are left loose our pet could try to play, get tangled up and even suffocate on them. Likewise, once the installation of the lighting is finished, try not to leave the cables on the ground, since if our pet bites them while they are connected to the current, they could suffer an electric shock. In this sense, keep the Christmas lighting unplugged whenever you are not using it or you are away from home, since biting the lights while they are connected can not only cause damage to our pet by the crystals, but it can also cause an electric shock.
Christmas balls
Cats in particular are attracted to glitter-laden Christmas baubles made from sparkly materials. Also, those dogs that usually play with balls can easily succumb to the desire to catch that rounded object so similar to their toy. For all these reasons, flee from crystal balls or those made of materials that, when broken, can cause serious injuries to our pet. From our site we advise you to opt for homemade Christmas balls, made with felt or rope, and that, in any case, try to keep them out of their reach.
Since today there is a multitude of decorations for the Christmas tree, beyond the typical balls, we recommend that you apply these tips to these objects as well and try not to buy them made of glass or hazardous materials for your pet.
Garlands, bows and sparkling stars
As we discussed in the previous section, all the shiny Christmas decorations especially catch the attention of cats. And if we add to this fact that it is a hanging object with which to play, the party is guaranteed. So, don't doubt for a second that your feline companion will come to pull that golden garland that you have so carefully decorated your tree or will try to catch the star that crowns your fir tree. At best nothing will happen, at worst the tree will fall on your pet.
However, not only can cats be attracted to these dangerous decorations, but dogs can also want to play with them or even eat them. In such a case, you should know that the ingestion of these objects can cause both suffocation and intestinal obstruction. To prevent this from happening, it is best to keep the tree away and try to opt for ribbons, bows and stars in opaque and less conspicuous tones.
Candle Centerpieces
Although the Christmas tree is the most dangerous decoration for our pet, it is not the only one, and we must also be careful with centerpieces and candles. To prevent our pet from suffering burns for trying to play with lighted candles, we recommend that you place them in places where they cannot access them and light them only when necessary. necessary. Remember to turn them off when you are ready to leave the house. In the event of an accident, we advise you to consult our article in which we tell you how to act in the event of burns.
On the other hand, centerpieces have the same effect on our pets as the Christmas tree if they are made up of bright, rounded and eye-catching motifs. To solve this problem and make the center less dangerous, we advise you to opt for more original centerpieces, without candles or harmful materials. You can choose to make it yourself and thus ensure that you do not use shiny or risky objects for your pet. You can make a center out of cylindrical containers lined with fabric, felt, or colored string, for example.
Christmas plant, one of the most toxic
Within the list of toxic plants for dogs and cats the Christmas plant stands out as one of the most dangerous. Ingesting it can cause digestive disorders in our pet that can trigger diarrhea and vomiting, while direct contact with the animal's skin or eyes can lead to irritation, rash or itching.
If you decide to decorate your house with this plant, try to keep it as far away from your pet as possible, especially if your little companion tends to eat your garden plants or grass.
Homemade repellent to keep our pet away from decorations
If after applying all the above tips and placing the Christmas decorations as far away as possible from their reach, your pet has managed to reach them, you have the option of making a homemade repellent based on citrus fruits. To prepare it you will need to gather:
- Sprayer
- Water
- Lemon juice
- Cinnamon Oil
Get a container, mix half a liter of water with the juice of three lemons and add two or three drops of cinnamon oil. Fill the sprayer with the homemade repellent and spray each of the Christmas decorations with it. Remember that both dogs and cats have a highly developed sense of smell and there are certain odors that they reject, such as those used for this mixture. In this sense, if you want to enhance the citrus smell even more, you have the option of adding orange juice. Of course, be careful that you do not ingest it and do not use cinnamon essential oil, opt for a natural one suitable for consumption and do not pour more drops than necessary, since if you consume this mixture and carry more cinnamon than necessary, it could cause a disorder digestive system in your pet.
