While you are busy making your festive plans for the holidays, please don’t forget to include your pets. The holidays are a time for giving, but there are some things you should not share with your little best friends. Once you know the hazards, a little precaution and prevention will make holidays a happy time for everyone.

Stuart Veterinary Clinic Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Matt Keller says keep an eye on what your pets eat. Leftover turkey carcasses look very appetizing, but when ingested, the small bones or bone chips can lodge in the throat, stomach and intestinal tract. To be safe, put away food immediately, and pet-proof your garbage. One of the bigger problems seen is when your pet discovers and eats your stash of chocolates Dr. Keller added. It’s best to feed your pets before a party so they will not be so apt to beg or steal food.

Holly and mistletoe are extremely poisonous when eaten. The lovely poinsettia may not be truly poisonous, but its milky white sap and leaves can certainly cause severe gastric distress. With so many hybrid varieties available each year, the best approach is to keep the plants out of your pet’s reach.

Holiday lights mean more electrical cords for kittens and puppies to chew. Dr. Keller suggests that all cords either be kept high or secured under a rug.

Check around holiday trees and boughs frequently. Ingested pine needles can puncture your pet’s intestines if sharp enough. Preservatives often used in the water in a tree stand can cause gastric upsets, so be sure it is inaccessible or not used and avoid sugar and aspirin additives in the water as well.

Dr. Keller warns to keep sharp or breakable ornaments up high and out of reach. Ingestion of these bright, colorful objects could cause cuts in the mouth, the threat of choking and intestinal obstruction. String objects, especially tinsel and ribbons, are to be safeguarded at all costs. They are thin and sharp and can wrap around intestines or ball up in the stomach.

Let’s face it, our pets are a part of our families and we want them to be with us during holiday gatherings and family celebrations. But, these joyous times also pose the most risks to our pets and the last thing anybody wants to do during the holidays is make an emergency visit to the vet’s office or animal hospital.