Ready or not, the holidays are here! Many families with be staying at home for Thanksgiving hosting dinners.
If this will be you and you are inviting guests over, we offer five tips to keep your cat happy (and safe!) at Thanksgiving.
1. Prepare your guests with some ground rules.
With people coming and going into your home, setting some ground rules in advance with your guests will allow them to help you keep your cat safe and well. A couple of suggestions:
- Watch the door carefully when entering and exiting. Not only for cats who might be escape artists, but for kitty who might flee in response to the excitement and noise.
- As adorable as your kitty might be at begging, ask to please not feed her table scraps.
2. Make sure kitty has a quiet, safe space in which to retreat.
Let your kitty decide if she wants to join the festivities (or not). Hopefully she will enjoy your company as much as you do, but having a retreat will reduce her stress.
3. Be on kitchen counter patrol.
Though your kitty might not be a counter surfer, all the wonderful smells might be too much for a curious cat to resist. As awesome as your turkey might taste, ingesting bones would make for a miserable (and dangerous) Thanksgiving for you and your kitty. Bones can lead to choking or create obstructions and lacerations in your feline’s digestive tract.
4. Keep the Thanksgiving spread to your two legged guests.
Some foods are not safe for pet consumption. Did you know even a small amount of onion is unsafe for your cat in any form can cause onion poisoning? Read the 12 Most Dangerous ‘People Foods’ for Cats and Dogs.
5. Don’t forget to make time for your kitty!
Thanksgiving gatherings and holiday shopping can take a big chunk out of your time, so be sure to squeeze in some special time for your kitty doing your routine things to let her know she is loved…whether that is fun time chasing the laser toy or just some cuddly lap time and you will keep your cat happy during this Thanksgiving holiday!
Love and Purrs,
Amy
Photo: Candy N (c) Dec 2005
