Christmas is a time of family gatherings, lots of food, presents, decorations and activities. Humans show love through food, lavishing goodies onto our friends and family.
For our pets, particularly dogs and cats, Christmas is also exciting with lots of coming and going, delicious smells, and interesting additions to the house such as baubles, gifts, and a tree. With a bit of care and planning, your pet will enjoy a safe and stress free day as well.
This time of year puts makes us generous, and sharing our lovely Christmas food and nibbles with our pet seems harmless. A few berries (some dogs and cats adore blueberries!) and raw vegetables such as carrots, green beans and zucchini are generally a safe option. Whilst cooked meat is not very beneficial to dogs and cats (their gut works best with raw), a snippet of turkey or lean piece of pork might satisfy our need to spoil them.
Because our pets are so important, it is worth knowing what to avoid and keeping an eye on guests so that this special day doesn’t turn into an emergency dash to the vet. My list is not exhaustive, so google is your friend to get a full rundown, but foods to forbid include: cooked bones, highly salted/processed or fatty meats, chocolate (any amount may be toxic), grapes/sultanas, seeds from stone fruit, avocados, onion, cheese/dairy (most dogs are lactose intolerant), alcohol, caffeine, corn cobs, any product containing Xylitol, pretzels/chips, pudding/cake, cherries, nutmeg.
Christmas trees are delightful for cats, in particular, but I remember two of our dogs removing every bauble they could reach one year whilst we were out. As cute as it is to see them play around a tree, lights and decorations do pose some risk, so keep an eye on them.
Some pets love the added excitement of visitors and the displacement of normal events, but for others, stress can become a real problem. If your pet is one of these, find them a part of the house they can retreat to without intrusion, somewhere quiet and with their favourite bed and toy. New pets – often kittens and puppies – may be overwhelmed by the double whammy of leaving their birth home and being part of a new, highly stimulating environment. Ensure they have plenty of ‘quiet time’, a secure place to be, and not too much handling by people they don’t know.
What makes a great Christmas present for a pet? Our Labrador, Maverick, would say ‘everything’! This year he is getting a new Kong, an interactive toy, a Christmas soft penguin, and one packet of air dried treats. He loves unwrapping his gifts, so we ensure no paper or sticky tape makes it into his tummy.
When selecting gifts, either for your pet or someone else’s, look for well-made, branded toys such as Kong, Chuck-it, Tuffy, Rogz, and Aussie Dog. Cats love the Catit and Kong Cat range. Avoid generic tennis balls (can be toxic) and cheap plastic/rubber toys.
Deer antlers, cow’s hooves, and goat horns make wonderful long lasting chews that suit most dogs and are a safer option if given unsupervised.
I’d love to hear what you have planned for Christmas with your pet! Leave your comments below to go into the running to win an e-copy of The Stationmaster’s Cottage and its sequel, Jasmine Sea. In these books, you’ll meet Randall, the golden retriever, who also loves Christmas time.
Enter the draw for the Rafflecopter prizes and you could be in for lots of shopping fun at Amazon, plus loads of fabulous books! Did you visit Leesa Bow’s blog yesterday? And remember to check in with Darcy Delaney tomorrow.
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Some of our authors have combined their resources and planned this Christmas blog hop. Once the blog begins you have the opportunity of winning by going to their blog post for the day (Each author will post until Christmas Eve) and commenting on their post to go in the draw to win a book. Then by clicking on the raffle copter link above, you will be entered in the grand prize draw for a $150 Amazon gift card.
Prizes Drawn on Christmas Eve.
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It’s like an advent calendar so bookmark this page and open a blog every day on the calendar below until Christmas! The more blogs you read, the more entries you have, and the more chances of winning the fabulous prize!
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Darcy Delaney
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Aw, love that the pets aren’t forgotten at Christmas. Fab post!
Thanks Carla! Glad you enjoyed it.
I think it’s so sweet when people get their pets gifts and/or dress them up.
So much fun seeing a dog or cat get a present 🙂
cute
Thanks!
Thanks for the reminder, Phillipa! We have two very naughty boy cats who love to steal food, so I’ll keep an extra eye on them. 🙂 Merry Christmas!
You must have your hands full with that pair! Merry Christmas to you. 🙂
Great post about remembering what is actually good and not good for our special family pets at this time of year.
Merry Christmas
Thank you! They certainly are special to us so glad you enjoyed the post.
With cats, I gave up Christmas trees long ago. Safer for them and me.
I get that comment from a few people with cats :-). Merry Christmas.
A timely reminder!! So true.
Thank you, Mary. 🙂
I don’t own a pet but my dear friend shared her dog Choko with me and she comes for sleep overs etc all the time!! I usually buy her her favourite snack a couple of toys and something funny to wear on Christmas Day! And she doesn’t like dressing up which makes it so much fun !! Merry Christmas!!
Oh, how lovely that Choko has sleep overs and you have such fun! Sounds wonderful.
Thanks for sharing the sweet photos, 🙂
My pleasure! The Labrador is our own boy, Maverick, patiently waiting for his presents.
The dogs and the cat will both be getting fun Kong toys and a cute squeaky elephant toy.
Those sound like excellent choices and I am sure they will be thrilled :-).
Great post Phillipa, I love that you remembered pets this Christmas. Our dog will be getting a wrapped dog toy under the tree and she’ll love to open it with the rest of us on the day.
Would love to hear how she goes! Thank you so much. Merry Christmas.
Somehow my comment disappeared so I will try again. We love our cat and are mindful of giving her food that will make her ill. she would really rather lick a plastic bag or play with a cardboard box than any new toy we buy. This year we have given her a special food treat other than her normal dry food diet. she will probably spend Christmas Day in our bedroom trying to escape the extra visitors.
So like a cat to prefer a ‘non’ toy than the real thing – or maybe we humans have it wrong lol. Hope she has a stress free day (and you also). :-).
Loved the article about Christmas being for pets too. When we had a dog, we kept a baby gate around our Christmas tree to keep her out of the ornaments and presents. It worked until she was old enough to jump over it. She was a Newfoundland. wonderful pet. thanks again for sharing
Love Newfies! We’ve used the old puppy pen around the tree trick as well. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the hop!
I don’t have a pet since mine died but he always got a present at Christmas.
So sad when we lose them. What a nice memory though.
I don’t have a pet but if I did it would probably get treats at Christmas. Thanks for this opportunity to win.
My pleasure! Treats sound good (says our dog).
We have no pets at this time. Unfortantly there are natural predators outside and we lost the last of our cats. Very informative about watching out for our pets inside. Have a happy holiday.
Sorry to hear that. There are so many risks and cats, in particular, are so naturally curious. Have a happy holiday as well :-).