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| There's Rosy in her red Christmas dress for our family photo. |
Just like children, animals have a tendency to explore the world around them through their mouths. Whilst there is doubtless a certain degree of comedy in watching your beloved pet try raw lemon for the first time, there are some considerations that attentive pet owners should bear in mind. Here is my countdown of the top 5 tips to keep pets safe at home.
5. Chocolate
We’ll start with an obvious one that most pet owners will be able to tell you in their sleep. Chocolate contains a stimulant called theobromine, which while harmless to humans in everyday doses, is massively more potent to dogs and cats. Keep your four-legged friends away from chocolate to avoid tremors, seizures, and in severe cases, heart failure.
4. Silica Gel
Whilst typically not toxic, silica gel is an indigestible hard material commonly found in small sacks of similarly indigestible cotton or plastic. This can easily cause a blockage in the gut of small animals, who will gladly snaffle up anything small and shiny left lying around on the floor. Dispose of any silica gel sachets safely.
3. Decorations - tinsel, fairy lights, glass baubles
The allure of shiny reflective materials such as tinsel, fairy lights, and glass baubles is sometimes just too tempting for our furry friends to resist. The obvious hazards involved in ingesting these materials are made all the worse when we consider that biting into anything electrical could also cause electric shock. Keep any decorations well out of reach.
2. Cooked Bones
What’s that, we hear you ask? No bones? But what could be more picture-book perfect than the family dog chewing on a leftover bone in front of the fire? Think twice. Cooked bones are brittle and can stick in the throat or stomach. Ensure all cooked bones are kept well away from pets.
1. Onion
If you didn’t like being told not to feed leftover cooked bones to your pets, you’re probably going to think that banning onions is a needless consideration. But wait. Hear us out on this one. Onion is found in stuffing and gravy, and can easily find its way onto your pet’s plate when clearing away after a meal. Onion can cause stomach irritation and even red blood cell damage in your pets. Be aware of any onion present in leftovers that your pet may try to eat.
Why not take the extra step of making your own sign to help others to realize the kinds of foods your pets shouldn’t eat. You can make your sign as funny or as serious as you like.
Browse the options available at mysafety-sign for top inspiration on keeping your pets safe at home.
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