Whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year, it’s likely your home has an increase in visitors, more decorations, and seasonal foods in the kitchen. This change in your environment often brings joy and merriment to the people in your life, but it can also bring serious risks if you share your home with a cat.
Festive Foods
Our first concern with pet safety around the holidays is often worrying about what our cats and kittens may try to eat – and with good reason. Not only will your kitty’s curiosity be piqued by new smells, but you may also have visitors who attempt to give your pet snacks or leave food unattended.
Food is an essential consideration around the holidays; the AVMA puts food risks accompanying Holiday Pet Safety at the top of their list. Food and snacks are everywhere during the holidays. We encourage you to review their complete list of off-limit foods each holiday season, but a good, simple rule to follow is to avoid sharing sweets and table scraps with your cat – no matter how much they beg.
It’s also essential to have a quick conversation with your guests, asking them not to feed your cat any food without your permission. A well-meaning visitor may feed your cat a dangerous food or even leave their plate unattended, allowing your curious kitty to snag a snag for themselves.
This can lead to serious health complications for your cat, some of which we cover in this article on common health problems.
Decorations
Decorations are a close second when it comes to holiday hazards. Whether you have a Christmas tree, candles, tinsel, or fragile figurines, they’re all new to your cat’s environment.
Your cat may be tempted to chew on or play with new objects. We encourage you to take a look around your cat’s home and make a few of the following adjustments as needed to provide a safer, more pet-friendly home.
Solid Bases: Do all of your decorations have a solid base? If possible, widen, weight, or somehow strengthen the bottom of free-standing decorations (like a Christmas tree) so they are difficult to knock over.
Smaller, More Stable Decorations: Choose to display your more durable decorations and keep your fragile items in a display case or somewhere your cat is unable to access (if such a place exists in your home). If you have to display a tall or unstable decoration, consider securing it with weights or ties to ensure it won’t tip over.
Unappealing Sprays: If you have seasonal plants or a Christmas tree, always check with your veterinarian to make sure the plant itself isn’t poisonous. If it’s safe to keep in the house, you can try apple cider vinegar or citronella sprays to repel your cat.
People report varying levels of success with this since every cat is a little different. But to humans, these sprays often smell nice, so trying various approaches usually has the pleasant side effect of an air freshener!
Candles
Whatever holidays you celebrate – even if you don’t celebrate any holiday at all this time of year – it’s common to see an increase in the use of candles in the home. Unfortunately, the sparkling flame is too tempting for many cats to leave unexplored.
This could lead to your cat batting a candle to the floor (causing a mess of wax), burning their paws or whiskers, or nudging the candle too close to a dangerously flammable item in your home (like curtains or holiday decorations).
To avoid these holiday candle hazards, consider the following tips:
- Never leave lit candles where you can’t see them. This includes lighting candles before you leave your home or go to sleep, but it also includes when you’re spending time far from the room your candles are in. You never know when your kitty will go exploring.
- Consider candle placement carefully. If possible, place your candle where your cat can’t reach it. Also, make sure it isn’t anywhere near flammable items so that, if it does get bumped, nothing else with catch fire.
- Use flameless candles, and you won’t have to worry at all!
Guests
I think every cat owner has experience with their kitten taking an excess liking to some people while being completely averse to certain people or at certain times. This “friend or foe” reflex is kicked into overdrive during the holiday season when you’re cats in an environment with an elevated amount of stimuli.
Oftentimes, your cat’s anxiety has nothing to do with each individual person, but the sheer number of people in their home (yes it’s their home too) and the other things we mentioned like candles, lights, and decorations.
Here are some tips to assure your cat also enjoys the holiday season:
- Give your cat a quiet space to retreat complete with fresh water, a place to snuggle/sleep, litter, and food. Wherever they usually retreat when they feel unsafe or want to be alone is usually good.
- Don’t completely neglect your cat and give him/her plenty of cuddles.
- Consider using mild calming remedies like L-theanine, Feliway, Thunderease, or Vetriscience.
- Caution children, or ask their parents to caution them, to not chase your cats around, pick them up, or make sudden aggressive moves. For better or for worse, cats are not similar to dogs in enjoying this type of playtime.
By following these tips, you can create a holiday space that’s enjoyable for you, your guests, your cat, and any other pets.
Other Hazards
This time of year, it’s important to consider more than just candles when we think of fire hazards. Sites like cathealth.com provide great tips for fire safety and your cats. Here are a few considerations to get you started!
- Fireplaces – a simple screen can keep your cat from getting too close and potentially spreading embers throughout the house.
- Heaters – space heaters are a common source of house fires, and it’s often because they are knocked over or, like candles, are too close to flammable items. An additional consideration with cats is what could happen if they bat their potentially flammable toys into the heater.
- Stoves and Ovens – while exploring, your cat may turn on your stove or oven. Those knobs are not only sometimes easy to turn, but they may also look like toys to your cat! Never leave anything on or in your stove (just in case it is turned on), and consider purchasing knob covers to decrease the chances anything will be accidentally turned on.
Before You Leave the House
No matter what decorations you have, it is imperative to ensure all potential hazards are removed when you are away from your home.
This includes making sure candles are not lit, lights are turned off, and all food is put away. Whenever we visit client homes, we look for these potential hazards – even if we know our feline clients won’t be home alone for very long.
We know your cat’s safety is your number one concern, so please share any other safety practices you have with our community in the comments below!