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Animal Welfare - Seasonal Information
Pets At Christmas
Christmas is a time when we are very busy doing lots of things to help others and we can forget some of those things close to home, so I thought I would take this opportunity to raise the basics again.
Pets of any species should not be given as a surprise present at any time of the year let alone Christmas. Pets should always be planned for and the whole family should agree especially mum as she will end up looking after it.
Remember some pets have special requirements, some grow very quickly and they all make a mess to some extent. The way to avoid making a mistake is preparation and planning.
For those of us that already have pets Christmas is a time that we all enjoy and its only right that our pets are part of that enjoyment, whether its giving them a special treat or just spending more time with them. However there are some things that we have to be careful of especially with cats and dogs.
- The house is suddenly full of strangers and they may feel threatened.
- Children appear and the animal will not be familiar with the noise and behaviour.
- Somebody may even appear with their own pet, this may change the behaviour of the resident with signs of aggression, or with cats they tend to be dirty indoors.
- For the good natured pet that will accept anything this also means FOOD, be aware that if children and some adults don’t like things, rather than upset the host its passed to the family pet who very willingly will remove all evidence, all that rich food can bring problems of its own.