Dangers for dogs and cats lurk in the household. Small carelessness in the household can cause major damage… With smart planning, however, you can protect dogs and cats from unnecessary accidents. And beware:love does not go through the stomach.
Most accidents happen at home. Many people have a domestic accident every year, sometimes serious, sometimes less serious. But there are also some dangers at home for dogs and cats. In this they do not differ from the two-legged family members. Accidents do not always have dramatic consequences. But they do cause restlessness and can cause pain. But sometimes they are also fatal.
Most sources of danger can be eliminated with a little thought and small steps. There are now useful tools for others. Tilt windows are often an annoying trap for cats. Vets even speak of a “tilt window syndrome”. Instinct tells cats “where my head goes, I go full on”. This instinct is deceptive when it comes to tilt windows. If the cat loses its grip, it will slide down and get stuck. Serious spinal injuries can result from escape attempts. Special anti-tilt window locks offer a solution.
No-gos are also open power cables that especially young animals like to chew on. Cable trays and socket fuses are safer. The washing machine and dryer should always be kept closed, unfortunately the accidentally washed cat is not a bad joke. Shards cannot always be avoided, but must be swept up immediately and carefully. Sharp objects of all kinds can also cause injury. The animals can burn their sensitive noses on hot food and drinks, hot cooking plates, the grill that has not yet cooled down or an open fire are even more dangerous.
However, the main danger to the four-legged relatives comes from all kinds of poisons. Many household products contain components that are toxic to dogs and cats. This is especially true for household cleaners and pesticides. Antifreeze for the car is also included. Medicines should never be lying around openly either.
Most dangerous, however, is poison that slumbers where it is least suspected. Incidents keep happening, especially at Christmas time. That is, when chocolate delicacies are freely accessible on the table. Chocolate contains cocoa and this theobromine, which is completely harmless to humans but can be deadly to dogs. In dogs, a dose of 20 mg theobromine per kilogram of body weight is already harmful to health; life-threatening symptoms can occur from an intake of 60 mg per kilo. The smaller the dog, the sooner the lethal dose is reached. A bar of milk chocolate already contains so much theobromine that a dog weighing more than 5 kilograms can seriously poison itself with it. Smaller breeds of dogs are especially at risk, but puppies and young dogs are also at particular risk. A dangerous dose of dark chocolate is reached much faster.
Repeated feeding of smaller amounts is also problematic. You're doing your little darling a disservice. Theobromine is broken down very slowly in the body so that it can accumulate in the blood.
Houseplants can also be sources of toxicity. The popular poinsettia is one of them. So you see that the dangers are in the details. When the worst happens, help is needed. If poisoning is suspected, the vet should be consulted promptly. The sooner countermeasures are taken, the greater the chance of recovery. But it's best not to let it happen at all.
