PRESS RELEASE: Pet Safety Tips for a Wag’N Good Thanksgiving

As the season of giving begins with a day of feasting, Thanksgiving also serves as a day of potentially dangerous “giving” and serious distress for our animal companions.  Pets, and their people, would not be so thankful if they eat something that was pet-unfriendly, become injured in the kitchen, or bite an unsuspecting guest.
Because it is easy to become distracted and lose track of what’s happening with pets while spending time with family and friends, it is important to establish some house rules to follow to keep pets safe.
Here are seven tips to help keep children and pets safe during the celebration:

1.    Maintain a No Kids/No Pets Policy in the Kitchen.  Keeping kids and pets out from “underfoot” may be the best defense against kitchen accidents.  If kids and pets are going to be allowed to help in the kitchen, keep them away from cooking areas by enforcing a "kid- and pet-free zone" of three feet around the stove.  Pets and children can cause you to trip while holding heavy hot food. Pets may also be tempted to jump on counters which may lead to burns as they may plunge paws on hot stove tops/burners and in some cases may singe fur and lead to burns on other body parts. Kids may feel the temped to open ovens, pulls pans with hot food, oil and/or grease off the stove tops to take an extra look and cause severe facial burns.
2.    Keep candles out of the reach of children and pets. Guest, tails and children should not be able to easily access the candles. The candle holder should be completely noncombustible and difficult to knock over. The candle should not have combustible/flammable decorations around it.
3.    Keep up the routine. By keeping your pet’s routine unchallenged you will be able to mitigate the most common Thanksgiving emergency veterinarian visits. Feed your pet before the big family meal and away from guests to reduce stress and disturbance.
4.    Watch their diet.  Holidays are no time to make sudden dietary changes. Avoid feeding your pet rich, fatty foods (turkey skins, gravy, etc) as they can contribute to pancreatitis. Never feed your dog cooked bones—no exception for wish bones—as they can splinter and cause tears or obstruction in your pet's digestive tract leading to internal bleeding. Additional pet food-hazards include baking/meat strings, onions found in stuffing (may lead to anemia in dogs), raw bread dough (can lead to bloat and kill pet within few hours), grapes and raisins (can lead to kidney failure), sage and essential oils, tin foil, toothpicks, coffee and grinds, alcohol, cellophane candy wrappers, Xylitol sweetener, sweets and, of course, chocolate.
5.    Keep the door closed.  Open doors provide great escape routes for pets. Keep pets in an enclosed room away from the racket, crated, or in a dog pen hindering access to the home’s main entrance. All pets should wear up-to-date pet tags and be micro chipped before guests start showing up. If for any reason the pet escapes and gets lost, a collar and tags and/or a microchip can increase the chances the pet will be swiftly reunited with its family.
6.    Have a “Doggy Room”. It is important that your pet has a quite place to get a time out or take a nap away from holiday guest, friends & family. Make sure your pet has a crate or bed in his own personal suite with a sign that says “Do Not Disturb”. Leaving unsupervised pets with chew toys such as raw hides, bones, pig ears and greenies is not recommended as pets may choke on them and the lack of supervision may be deadly to the pet. Wag'N recommends leaving them instead with a chew like a Kong, natural deer or elk antler chews, or Himalayan dog chew (hard cheese). Always leave water in with the pet and check up on it often.
7.    Have emergency contacts and numbers available. Wag'N highly recommends pet parents keep important life saving phone numbers both in their cell phone registry and displayed on paper copy in a prominent well traveled area of the residence. Important numbers include their emergency veterinarian's phone number, the ASPCA Poison Control Center Number (888) 426-4435 and the Regular Poison Control Number (800) 222-1222.
Unlike many other holidays, Wag’N reminds pet parents that human logic is not common pet sense! Awareness and caution will keep tails wagging this holiday season.

About Wag’N Enterprises
Founded in 2007, Wag’N offers pet parents and first responders the necessary gear, supplies and training to effectively mitigate, prepare and respond to emergencies that impact pet health and safety. Chief Wag’N Officer, Ines de Pablo holds a Masters Degree in Risk, Crisis & Emergency Management from the prestigious George Washington University in Washington D.C. and has over a decade of extensive field training experience under her belt.  Wag’N Enterprises is a branded and extensive collection of purposefully designed and all-encompassing crafted tools and services giving people and their pets’ peace of mind in case of an emergency.