How to Make Your Christmas Tree Pet-Safe

For that pet lover in you, after you are finished trimming your Christmas
tree, there are many steps and measures that you can take in order to ensure that your Christmas tree is pet safe. Unfortunately, with knowing the natural tendencies of animals, these steps will help you to ensure safety, as well as, prevent sickness or illness of your cherished pest. The Christmas holiday season is one of joy and love, and, for that reason, having a sick animal could really put a damper on the holiday experience.

Whether cat, or dog, or one of many other possible household animals, you can rest assured that their safety is provided for by taking the following, simple, steps. Of all the symbols that are common to the Christmas holiday season, the Christmas tree, by far, believe it or not, can pose the most danger to a curious animal. With learning how to take the measures concerning the care of your Christmas tree, cat and dog sickness and safety can be alleviated significantly.

Things You Will Need

• a Christmas Tree
• a Christmas Tree Skirt
• Ornaments for Your Christmas Tree
• Scat Mats
• Puppy Gates
• a Stand for Your Tree
• Treats for Your Pet
• Candy Dishes with a Cover

Step 1

Once you have safely arrived home with your family, after finding your perfect Christmas tree at your nearby Christmas tree farm, you will want to prepare your tree for display to both friends and family. While your Christmas tree is standing erect, in its tree stand, it is imperative that you use a Christmas tree skirt for a variety of reasons.

Within context of this Info Barrel article, it is important for you to use a Christmas tree skirt because the stagnant water, in your tree stand, can surely make your household pet sick if they were to drink it. With a combination of both sap, needles, and other tree waste products, this wouldn't be a pleasant liquid for you to drink, and neither would it be for your household pet. Unfortunately, knowing the natural tendencies of your household pet can really help you to take proactive measures to ensuring that they are safely cared for.

Cats, and dogs, will naturally want to drink out of your families' Merry Christmas tree stand just like it were an actual water dish. You can prevent this by having a tree skirt readily available for use as soon as you set up your Christmas tree.

Step 2

Not only do pet treats help to provide nourishment to your household a
nimal, but they also will help to distract them from doing things that they would do otherwise. Whether they become generally anxious or excited under influx of massive amounts of family and friends, or they have naturally tendencies to drink the water out of your families' tree stand, having pet treats on hand can help to divert their attention and provide a great incentive for good behavior.

Not only is the best way to your animals heart through food, but these same treats can help to provide safety, especially when faced with the introduction of many new household decorations and arrangements in the name of Christmas holiday festive tradition. Keeping these treats at the ready can be a very important tool to help ensure the good behavior of your household pet.

Step 3

When decorating your Christmas tree, or providing any household decorations for that matter, poinsettas and mistletoe, in particular, should be allocated with care. Whether you are setting up a brilliant dinner table center piece, or using these items to elaborately complement your decorated Christmas tree, it is is important to remember that a household animal's ingestion of these particular decorative items can really cause illness in your pet.

For this reason, it is important to keep these particular items as far away from your household pet as possible. When decorating your Christmas tree, you should consider placing them as high as possible. Unfortunately, some household dogs may have very high vertical leaps that could be used to extract these particular decoration items. Under this threat, and knowing the adverse effects that both mistletoe and poinsettas can have on an animals heart rate and blood pressure, you may consider not using these decorations all together.

While mistletoe and poinsettas are essentially staple decorations of the holiday season, you do not have to use them if your better judgment would deem them not in the best interest of your household pet.

Step 4

Although most families may only put Christmas presents under their tree on the night before Christmas
, there are some families who allow their presents to be placed underneath for at least the first few weeks leading to Christmas. In a society where just about any store will wrap your Christmas presents with appealing wrapping paper, and elaborate bows, it is important to remember that these decorative 'extras' can actually pose a safety risk to your household pet(s).

Unfortunately, your pet may see the massive arrangement of bows and ribbons and may be tempted to view them as an edible tasty treat. Once again, it is important to know the tendencies of your household pet so that you can take the important proactive steps necessary in order to ensure safety. If you live in a household where your pet has a tendency to eat object, you may want to consider not using bows or ribbons, at all, when assembling your Christmas presents. While these are great additions that are generally enjoyed for their visually, aesthetic, appeal, it is easy to see how your household animal could be tricked into thinking they are edible.

A good way to safeguard from this occurring is to use both animal treats and strategically placed pet gates. With all the safety concerns of Christmas trees, you may decide to remove the risk, altogether, by allowing for a child-proof like gate to be set up at the entrance of the room where your Christmas tree, and presents, reside. Simply doing this alone, and taking these proactive measures, can help to dramatically decrease your household pet's potential for sickness or illness especially around the holiday seasons. It is important to note that many of these ideas can be implemented all year around.

Step 5

Tinsel is a highly used Christmas decoration, however, it does present its own unique risks and considerations. Because some tinsel can actual contain lead, you will want to do whatever you can in order to ensure that your household pet does not ingest it. Just like the leaves and berries of poinsettas and mistletoe, you may want to consider not using tinsel at all, as a festive holiday decoration. While tinsel is also a loved holiday decoration, making your Christmas tree more pet friendly may require having to stay away from using certain items in your creative decorating process.

Step 6

Care should be taken when using ornaments that are made of edible substances. Even if
that ornament has been used for years, it may still give off a scent that is greatly appealing to your household pets' taste buds. Such ornaments may include ornaments that are made with popcorn, or chocolate. Although old, these ornaments may have a sickly, toxic, effect on animals if they are accidentally ingested. Once again, you can use tools like pet treats and animal gates in order to help remove this threat by keeping your animal segregated from the room that contains your Christmas tree.

Not only is the Christmas holiday season a fun and festive time for eager and energetic humans, but household animals, in particular, can become excited by all the festivities occurring around them. Unfortunately, even amongst the most exciting holiday activities, your household pets can be in danger, however minor, if the above proactive measures are not taken to ensure that safety is upheld in your household.

Tips & Warnings

Using pet treats, and gates, can really help to mitigate the risk of sickness or danger to your household pet.

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