It’s always a good idea to pay attention to what your pets are eating. This advice is especially true around Christmas, when there will be a whole lot of eye catching decorations, with interesting new smells and scents, that your pet will be tempted to taste, chew on, or even eat. This can require an expensive trip to a vet. Pet insurance can help you cover the cost of the necessary medical care.
Many, if not all dogs, take great delight in things that humans find repulsive. Humans find a bad smell, and back away from it, gagging. Dogs think the bad smell is something to be enjoyed, may roll in it, and often will eat the thing that the smell originates from.
Dogs, and some cats as well, aren’t very good at differentiating between things that are food, and things that are not food. Your pet might decided to eat the presents that are sitting under your tree, the tree itself, other random holiday decorations, or the dinner and dessert items that your family is having for Christmas dinner. Or, your pet may decide that now is the time to eat something else that is lying around the house, while the humans are distracted with holiday celebrations. This can be very dangerous, and potentially fatal Christmas is the time of year when pet insurance companies get some of the strangest claims that involve situations where a dog has eaten something he shouldn’t have eaten. The usual suspects, socks and dishtowels, will, of course, continue to tempt your pet this holiday season. Your dog may also decide that a fallen Christmas ornament is food, or that the wrapping on a Christmas present is an excellent treat. Or, your dog might go through the trash, and eat the tin foil that still smells like food.
Did your dog eat something chocolate? This may require a frantic and stressful trip to the vet, which no one wants to have to do, ever, but especially around the holidays. While most people are aware that chocolate is bad for pets, there are other food dangers you might not know about. Bones that have been cooked, like the ones in a piece of turkey, chicken, or ham, can splinter when your pet chews on it. This can cause severe injury. Keep a close eye on your pets this holiday season, and make sure your pet insurance is updated, just in case.
Image by aolin on Flickr