PetSmart® Offers Tips to Keep Pets Safe, Healthy During the Holidays

PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The holiday season is synonymous with family gatherings, dinner parties,
gift openings and plenty of festive food, which can pose some challenges
for pets.

Lisa Darling, DVM, PetSmart’s resident veterinarian and pet care expert,
shares advice for keeping pets safe, healthy and happy this holiday
season and throughout the cold winter months.

Create a Safe Home for Pets

This time of year, home holiday décor can include seasonal plants,
ornaments and candles, which means plenty of intriguing and dangerous
new sights and smells for pets. For example, extra electrical cords can
be tempting new “chew toys” for pets. Darling recommends pet parents
take special care to ensure extra electrical cords for festive indoor
lighting are not accessible to pets by taping them down or covering them
to help prevent injuries.

Christmas trees can also pique the interest of curious cats and playful
pups. Darling urges pet parents to firmly anchor trees so they can take
any potential playful swatting and to keep breakable glass ornaments
higher up on the tree, out of pets’ reach, along with temptations like
tinsel and ribbons.

Candles can also be problematic, so it’s best to avoid burning them or
put them far out of pets’ reach. Seasonal plants like holly, mistletoe
and poinsettia plants are poisonous to dogs and cats, so if you plan to
decorate your home with them, place them in an area your pet cannot
reach.

Savor the Season – Safely

The holidays are filled with festive food, treats and candy, and
although it can be tempting to share human foods with our beloved pets,
resist the urge.

“Table scraps such as turkey, gravy and stuffing may look harmless, but
even small amounts can lead to serious health issues,” said Darling.

Instead, include pets in your festive feasting by offering them
pet-friendly treats that look and taste like the real thing. Simply
Nourish® Merry Meals™
, in flavors like Turkey, Sweet Potato and
Cranberry, are healthy alternatives to the human food on our holiday
table. PetSmart’s meat
and cheese tray
, pie
slice
and turkey
leg made of rawhide
are fun takes on holiday feasting, but are
specifically formulated for pets.

Keep Them Calm

The holidays can be a hectic time for people and pets. Extra visitors to
the house, travel and commotion can leave pets feeling anxious.

“Before company arrives, try putting your dog or cat in a Thundershirt®,
which is designed to provide a calming effect when they experience fear
or discomfort,” Darling said. “Many pet parents also find that
supplements like LICKS®
Zen Calming Remedy
also work by promoting calmness and behavior
which may help stabilize pets’ moods.”

Keep Them Feeling Cozy and Warm

During especially cold winter days and nights, look to your pet to gauge
comfort levels and plan time to dress them accordingly. Generally, if
your pet is small and short-haired, it’s likely he or she is sensitive
to the cold. The same goes for older pets and those that may be frail or
ill.

Darling says that sweaters, coats and booties to protect their paws are
all smart (and comfortable) solutions. Booties are particularly
important for icy areas that may be salted and can help guard pup’s paws
from the harmful solution.

A safe home is a happy and festive home this holiday season. Keeping
these tips in mind can help avoid emergency trips to the vet, which
means the whole family can enjoy a joyful holiday season. Find more
pet-friendly tips for the holidays at Petsmart.com/learning-center.

About PetSmart®

PetSmart, Inc. is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and
solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. At PetSmart, we love pets, and
we believe pets make us better people. Every day with every connection,
PetSmart’s passionate associates help bring pet parents closer to their
pets so they can live more fulfilled lives. This vision impacts
everything we do for our customers, the way we support our associates
and how we give back to our communities. We employ approximately 55,000
associates, operate approximately 1,500 pet stores in the United States,
Canada and Puerto Rico and 204 in-store PetSmart® PetsHotel® dog and cat
boarding facilities.

PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and pet
products and offers dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding, PetSmart
Doggie Day Camp day care services and pet adoption services in-store.
Our portfolio of digital resources for pet parents – including
PetSmart.com, PetFoodDirect.com, Pet360.com and petMD.com – offers the
most comprehensive online pet supplies and pet care information in the
U.S. Through our in-store pet adoption partnership with independent
nonprofit organizations, PetSmart Charities® and PetSmart Charities™ of
Canada, PetSmart helps to save the lives of more than 500,000 homeless
pets each year.

Follow PetSmart on Twitter: @PetSmart
Find
PetSmart on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PetSmart
See
PetSmart on YouTube: www.YouTube.com/PetSmart

Contacts

Golin for PetSmart Inc.
Danielle Bickelmann, 469-680-2503
dbickelmann@golin.com
or
PetSmart
Media Line:
623-587-2177

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