In lieu of the Featured Pet of the Week blog entry, I decided to do an entry on New Year's Eve, Pet Safety tips. Our Featured Pet blog entry will return next Thursday, January 7th. Since this will be our last blog entry for 2015, D and I wanted to take this time to wish you and your fur babies a safe and joyous New Year. May 2016, be our best year yet! Thanks once again for all your support (from home and internationally). God Bless!
Today's Pet Safety article comes from examiner.com:
Pet safety tips for New Years Eve
Take precaution for your pets during New Years celebrations
PARexaminer
While most everyone is busy preparing for the year end celebrations, some may have forgotten to also prepare for their pets. There’s still time to make this New Years eve a safe and happy one for your pets.
Big gatherings, loud noises, and startling fireworks are some of the things we love about the holidays but they can be very frightening for our pets. With a little planning and precaution, you can ensure that this New Years eve celebration is enjoyable for everyone.
1. Update identification:
The biggest risk of all this New Years eve is that pets will get loose and become lost. Even if a pet is secured inside, the sound of noisemakers, gunfire, and fireworks can cause them to enter an extreme panic mode, sometimes even breaking through glass windows, slipping out doors or pushing through screens.
Make sure your pets are licensed and micro-chipped. Make sure the microchip company has your current address and phone numbers. If anything, collar and tag every pet in your home now.
2. Keep pets indoors:
Descending remnants of scorching novice fireworks, bottle rockets and stray celebratory bullets could cause serious injury or death to your pet. Therefore, keep the outside visits to a minimum.
This night is different, remember, anxiety can surface in the most fearless of dogs and most laid back cats while courage from alcohol can come out in the most passive of humans.
Being an amateur drinking night, intoxicated neighborhood visitors may find humor in letting your unattended pet out of your yard or worse intentionally inflicting harm upon them.
When your pet must go out to relieve itself, please accompany it and use a leash with a snug fitting collar or harness.
3. Create a safe and comforting environment:
If you’re having guests over, consider keeping pets in a room that’s off-limits to guests with plenty of water and pet food.
People coming in and out while not paying attention can be a perfect way for your anxiety stricken pet to escape. Any pet can easily choke on the blower attachment of party horns or portions of party hats. Plastic Hawaiian neck leis commonly used at parties can also prove deadly when becoming lodged in the throat. Ingestion of certain party foods can be fatal if your pet find it's way to the snack table or overflowing waste baskets. Don't risk any of these things happening to your loving companion.
Keep your pets in a safe enclosed room, with doors, windows and blinds closed. Surround pets with their favorite toys and other familiar objects. Sometimes the smell of an article of clothing from your laundry can help comfort them. Chew toys or non ingestible chew bones are great to hold attention. Have several on hand and change them out for different ones throughout the night.
Create a space in the room for them to find refuge. Either an open door crate you are sure they will utilize or under a coffee table or perhaps behind a chair or couch. Just place their comfort items in this hiding place for them to relax.
Play soothing music or turn on the television. Keeping them occupied by the sound in the room and slightly masking the outside booms, crackles and horns is the key.
4. Keep your guests safe:
Taking into consideration that fear, anxiety and confusion can cause fear aggression in any pet, with one of your visitors being the target, is yet another safety reason to place your pet in a private and calming area of the home.
End of year celebrations with family and friends can be most enjoyable while reminiscing about the years memorable happenings. Don't let a lost or injured pet be a bad ending to a wonderful evening.
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