Keeping Your Cat Safe--4 Ways To Make Sure Your Cat Survives The Holidays

For many the holidays mean bringing all kinds of beautiful decorations and foods into your home. Unfortunately many of these are toxic and potentially life threatening to your cat. Here are 4 tips to help you and your cat survive the holidays together.

Don't let your cat become a statistic. Here are 4 ways to keep your cat safe, especially during the holidays.

Avoid Holiday Plants--Mistletoe and Poinsettias are 2 favorite holiday plants that many people bring into their homes for the holidays. Keeping these popular seasonal plants totally out of your home is best. They are both toxic-the Mistletoe more than the Poinsettias, but don't take a chance with either of them.

Clear Away Small Toys--If you are having small children as visitors during the holidays that will bring small toys such as beads, marbles, small game board pieces, make sure your cat is confined to another room or the cage in the same room so it remains safe but feels included in the gathering.

Ask children not to feed the cat and make sure their parents are aware of your rule. After the children have gone, make sure all small pieces that could possibly cause choking have been cleared away before allowing your get to run free again.

Keep Away from People Food--Holiday parties contain a lot of food that is great for people but toxic for cats. Remember your cat can climb to unbelievable heights so make sure that foods that are toxic to cats such as chocolate, tomatoes, green potatoes, garlic, grapes and raisins are contained in pet proof containers.

To avoid any possibility of your cat ingesting these foods from the table at a party, or having an unknowing guest feed these foods to your cat, put your cat in his cage with a favorite toy in a room well away from the party, and ask guests who know you have a cat not to go into the room.

Contain Electrical Cords--An increased number of electrical cords are often used during the holidays to light up decorations. Many times they are seen as a new toy to your cat who may be tempted to swat at (and knock over) decorations, chew, or pull-none of which are good.

Make sure that you tape cords together to avoid tangling or hanging, or enclose the cords in heavy plastic tubing that can be purchased from most hardware stores and reused each year.