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Christmas Pet Safety Tips
Christmas Pet Safety Tips
PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc. offers these tips to make
your home safe for your pets during Christmas.
October 21, 2004
With the month of November fast approaching, families will
start thinking about Christmas, and with Christmas comes the
decorations. A house decorated for Christmas can present some
hazards for pets, primarily because they will be curious about
all the new items hanging around the house.
PETCO Animal Supplies, Inc. offers these tips to ensure that
your pets also have a healthy and happy holiday:
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Christmas Trees: Pine needles can get lodged in
an animal's esophagus, making it painfully prickly for
your pet to swallow. PETCO says that even drinking the
water from the Christmas tree base is enough to cause
diarrhea, mouth sores, vomiting and loss of appetite.
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Deck the Halls: A bunch of mistletoe may tempt
a festive kiss, but PETCO warns that eating this holiday
greenery could cause a drop in blood pressure, as well
as vomiting and swollen throat and mouth tissue. Other
holiday foliage, including Holly and Poinsettias, contain
toxins that could lead to severe stomach problems, as
well as skin, mouth and eye irritation. Worse yet, Yew
is extremely toxic, and one mouthful could be deadly.
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Tinsel and Lights: A flickering flame and shiny
decorations intrigue companion animals. When lighting
the menorah, advent wreath or decorative candles, PETCO
advises to keep pets in another room where paws and claws
can't reach them. With electrical lights, remember to
tape exposed electrical cords to walls or floors to ensure
no chewing or tripping. Tinsel and wrapping paper may
look like fun toys, but they can cause choking, upset
stomach or more serious problems.
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Visions of Sugar Plums: PETCO knows that cookies
and candies are as much about holiday tradition as a snowy
street scene; however, some of them can be dangerous to
your pets. For example, chocolate contains a chemical
known as theobromine, which can be highly toxic to your
four-legged friends.
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Antifreeze Alert: The onset of winter often means
new antifreeze for the family car, which is a substance
that can be especially harmful to the family pet. PETCO
notes that antifreeze contains ethylene glycol, which
causes rapid and permanent kidney damage to your companion
animal if ingested in even small amounts.
Finally, the best present you can give to your pets this
holiday season is good health and some extra loving attention.
PETCO (Nasdaq: PETC) operates more than 700 neighborhood
stores in 47 states and the District of Columbia, as well
as a leading destination for on-line pet food and supplies
at http://www.petco.com.
The PETCO Foundation, PETCO's non-profit organization, has
raised more than $18 million since inception in 1999. More
than 2,300 non-profit grassroots animal welfare organizations
from around the nation have received support from the Foundation.
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