Holiday Safety for Cats

Laurie Anne Walden, DVM

Happy holidays! Keep your cat safe from these common household dangers when you’re preparing for the season.
 
Strings
Ribbons, tinsel, yarn, twine, fishing line, thread, garland, and other long strings are hazardous if swallowed. A string in the digestive tract can cause a linear foreign body obstruction. Cats with digestive tract obstruction need surgery to prevent serious damage to the intestines. Keep this danger in mind when choosing holiday decorations. Wide ribbons might be less of a swallowing hazard than narrow ribbons.
 
Shiny Objects
Tinsel is especially attractive to cats because it’s sparkly, so a long string of tinsel is an intestinal obstruction waiting to happen. Watch out for glass ornaments that can cut paws if they mysteriously land on the floor and break. Expect that your cats will treat all glittery and shiny items as cat toys and decorate accordingly. Wood and fabric ornaments are safer than glass ornaments in a household with cats.
 
The Tree
With Christmas trees, the goal is to prevent damage to your cat and damage to property. Christmas tree dangers to cats include tree water (might contain preservatives or pesticides), swallowed pine needles, broken or swallowed ornaments, electrical wires, and being hit by a falling tree.
 
If your cat ignores the tree, you might not need to do anything more than keep breakable ornaments on high branches, cat-safe (or no) ornaments on low branches, and a close eye on your cat when he’s in the room with the tree. But if your cat is young, curious, adventurous, or new to your home, assume he’ll want to climb the Christmas tree.
 
The safest approach is to either not have a tree or to close the door and keep the cat out of the room. If your cat has access to the tree, use a sturdy base and secure the tree to the ceiling or walls so it can’t tip over. Don’t use any breakable ornaments if your cat is a climber. To prevent electrocution, keep the tree lights unplugged when you’re not watching your cat.
 
Try giving your cat a more attractive alternative, like a high perch and new toys or a cat Christmas tree (maybe made from a cardboard box). You could try bitter orange spray or an unappealing floor covering around the tree (aluminum foil, adhesive paper with the sticky side up, or a nonslip rug gripper with the pointy side up), but don’t count on deterrents like these to keep your cat out of the tree.
 
Other Plants
Lilies are among the most dangerous plants for cats; don’t bring them in your house at all if you have a cat. Holly, mistletoe, and amaryllis are toxic to cats to some degree. Poinsettias are mildly toxic to cats. 
 
Flames and Electrical Wires
Cats like to push things off tables and are curious about new items in their living space. Don’t leave a cat alone with lit candles, which are a fire hazard if knocked over. Cats will also chew on electrical cords, so cover the cords and keep lights and other electrical decor unplugged when not in use.
 
Human Food
Onions, leeks, chives, and garlic are toxic to cats. Chocolate, alcohol, raw bread dough, fatty food, raw eggs, raw meat, and bones are also dangerous for cats. See the blog post on human foods that are toxic to pets for more information. If you’d like to share some of your holiday meal with your cat, see the post on Thanksgiving foods that are safe for dogs and cats.

Photo by Jessica Lewis

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