Pet Health Articles
How to Choose Safe Gifts & Toys for Your Pet This Holiday Season
2016-12-19
Us cats and dogs love to be a part of your holiday celebrations. It makes us feel especially loved when you include us by wrapping a gift and then putting our name on the outside of it. Since you're human and don't know how we think, here are some ideas for gifts that are both fun and safe.
Season's Greetings!
Carlos
Children and pets make the holiday season especially magical. After all, you would have to be a real Scrooge not to smile when you see an excited child, dog, or cat tear into a gift. Toys are not an extravagance when it comes to pets. They provide much-needed stimulation in addition to distraction, comfort, entertainment and exercise. With our long Minnesota winters, having several toys available for your pet helps to focus her energy on the toys instead of becoming destructive around the house.
Choosing Toys for Your Dog
An appropriate toy for a Chihuahua isn’t necessarily something you would give to a St. Bernard. With the size and weight of dogs varying dramatically, it’s important to select toys without parts that your dog could easily swallow. Plastic eyes, buttons, and strings are all good examples of this. Additionally, toys containing nutshells or polystyrene beads can be significant choking hazards.
All dogs have an instinctual desire to chew. Tennis balls, a rope toy with a knot at each end, and hard rubber toys are safe choices to give your dog as a holiday gift. Toys that allow you to hide a treat inside, such as a busy box or Kong, motivate your dog to keep playing with the toy to get to the treat. It’s a rare dog who would pass up this opportunity.
Considerations When Selecting a Cat Toy
Many cats are just as entertained by batting a twist-tie across the floor than they are with an expensive toy meant to stimulate them. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on a gift for your cat as long as she can move or bat it and interact with you while doing so. You can even create a gift out of a simple homemade item like the cardboard center of a paper towel roll. Some classic cat favorites include:
Choosing Toys for Your Dog
An appropriate toy for a Chihuahua isn’t necessarily something you would give to a St. Bernard. With the size and weight of dogs varying dramatically, it’s important to select toys without parts that your dog could easily swallow. Plastic eyes, buttons, and strings are all good examples of this. Additionally, toys containing nutshells or polystyrene beads can be significant choking hazards.
All dogs have an instinctual desire to chew. Tennis balls, a rope toy with a knot at each end, and hard rubber toys are safe choices to give your dog as a holiday gift. Toys that allow you to hide a treat inside, such as a busy box or Kong, motivate your dog to keep playing with the toy to get to the treat. It’s a rare dog who would pass up this opportunity.
Considerations When Selecting a Cat Toy
Many cats are just as entertained by batting a twist-tie across the floor than they are with an expensive toy meant to stimulate them. You don’t have to spend a lot of money on a gift for your cat as long as she can move or bat it and interact with you while doing so. You can even create a gift out of a simple homemade item like the cardboard center of a paper towel roll. Some classic cat favorites include:
- Any toy attached to the end of a rod that allows you to dangle it in front of him
- A laser pointer
- Toy mice, with or without catnip
These toys give your cat the satisfaction of chasing and capturing her prey, which is built into her DNA. For cats who remain strictly indoors, having a wide variety of toys enables them to get enough exercise and keep boredom at bay.
Buffalo Companion Animal Hospital wishes you a happy holiday season with your beloved pets.
Photo Credit: GlobalP / Getty Images
