Health & safety should top your pet's gift list: holiday tips and treats for our furry and feathered friends

Better Nutrition, Dec, 1998 by Patricia Andersen-Parrado

Holiday tips and treats for our furry and feathered friends.

I'm not ashamed to admit that, each Christmas, I wrap gifts for my cat and hang a stocking for her. And, although I've never taken a survey, I'll bet that I'm not alone when it comes to treating my pet like one of the family, especially during the holidays.

For all our good intentions, though, it's important for us pet owners to realize that the holidays can be an unhealthy, if not downright dangerous, time for pets. Here are some tips to help keep your pet healthy and safe this holiday season.

Feeding your pet

Table scraps. During the holidays, the temptation to feed your pet table scraps is greater than ever. How can you turn down that little face looking up at you, begging ... after all, isn't it the holidays? Sue Crissey, Ph.D., a zoo nutritionist with the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, Ill., says, you don't have to say "no," just be sensible about what types of scraps you're giving your pet and how much.

"Everybody always says, `no table foods,' because if you give pets an inch, they'll take a mile! I would say that if 5 percent of your pet's diet is table scraps, that shouldn't be a problem." The biggest problem, she says, is that we give our pets portions that are appropriate for us, not them. "Your cocker spaniel only weighs 30 lbs. and you might weigh 150, that's a big difference. People need to scale their eyes down to their pet's size."

Given the fact that recent research indicates that as many as 60 percent of pets are overweight, which can lead to the same health problems as it does in humans -- heart disease, diabetes, and joint problems, among others -- it is prudent that we help them stay trim.

As for what the 5 percent of table scraps should consist of, Crissey says you should aim to feed your pet in a natural way, like the way they've evolved to eat. For example, she advises giving a walnut to your bird, a small piece of meat to your cat, some vegetables to your rabbit, and a small piece of meat or some stuffing to your dog.

"One of the things that we have to remember is that we are doing the selecting for our animals. If they were a wild wolf, a tiger, or a wild rabbit, they would select things based on what's available, and that's what animals do when they are in our households. They are in an artificial-selection situation, so they are relying on us to provide them with good diets."

It's all in the delivery. The holidays are supposed to be fun, so go the extra mile and make them fun for your pet, too. Crissey says, for her pets, she sometimes provides a fun food delivery system.

For her dogs, she'll put their food in balls designed for food to be put into -- "they'll work on it for hours, moving the ball around trying to get the food out."

For cats, she suggests putting some of those holiday pie tins to use -- put some food in a large empty pie tin and cover it with a smaller empty tin -- your cat will have a blast trying to get at the food; and, for birds, she suggests hanging, in the cage, a rawhide bone with a little bit of peanut butter in the grooves.

Plants that pose a threat

Holiday decorating and entertaining often includes plants. Unfortunately, while beautiful to look at and smell, many plants are dangerous to pets. And, as anyone who has a pet knows, they often like to nibble on the greenery. Among the most common holiday plants which pose a threat to your pets are mistletoe and poinsettias. In addition, Christmas tree needles and the water from the base of the tree can cause gastrointestinal problems.

Lastly, sharp ornaments, ribbons, and artificial snow can be dangerous to your pet, if ingested.

REFERENCE

Anderson, Nina, and Peiper, Howard. Are You Poisoning Your Pets? Garden City Park, N.Y.: Avery Publishing Group, 1998.