Keeping Your Pet Safe This Winter - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Christmas time is filled with garlin, lights, tinsel and ornaments--all hazards for your pet.

Reporter Sarah Gustin has details on keeping your cat or dog safe this winter season.

It's a festive time--but a dangerous time for four legged friends like these.

Nancy Gerhardt is the Lead Trainer at PetSmart in Bismarck.

Gerhardt says the holidays are the most dangerous for dogs and cats.

(Nancy Gerhardt / PetSmart Pet Trainer) "Animals like to drink water, so everybody is water their tree and a lot them put chemicals in it. You might want to put a cover around the bottom of the tree to keep them from getting in there and drinking that and getting sick."

Gerhardt recommends keeping lights and candles out of a pet's reach and decorations off the bottom branches.

(Nancy Gerhardt / PetSmart Pet Trainer) "The bulbs dogs, they look like a ball. Dogs will grab them and crunch. Cut themselves up. You want to anchor your tree where a cat climbing up in won't knock it over." 

Gerhardt also says don't over do the table scraps.

(Nancy Gerhardt / PetSmart Pet Trainer) "It is the spices that really get to them and gives them an upset stomach so they get diarrhea, they throw up if you have bland things find. Like her she has allergies so I have to be careful to keep things away from the edges so she isn't helping herself as she goes along." 

(Sarah Gustin / sgustin@kxnet.com) "Christmas isn't the only dangerous time for pets. Gerhardt says Christmas in general is. As you can see there are waxes, sprays and wipes all to keep your pet's feet safe."

(Nancy Gerhardt / PetSmart Pet Trainer) "They still need exercise. They still need to move around. It's good to use the paw wax because it supports that paw, it keeps it soft, it keeps it from cracking. It keeps it soft so they are not cracking and bleeding and then they are lame." 

Gerhardt says after a winter walk dip your pets feet in water before bringing them in the house to wash any salt off their pads that they may have picked up off the sidewalk.

Also be sure you ask guests to close doors and gates behind them.

And make sure your pets have visible ID tags, so if they do wander off they'll be able to find their way back home.