We’ve all got our animal friends - cats, dogs, birds, tarantulas, what have you. Whatever you have, the holidays can be a pretty hazardous time for the furrier members of our families, and it might be hard keeping our pets out of trouble when it comes to things like decorations and presents. If you’ve got some curious cats or playful pups that are just itching to chew up that tree or tear down some lights as soon as you turn around, here’s a few things you can try to both prevent damage and keep your pets safe from getting hurt: Don’t Buy The Dangerous Stuff For starters, the best way to keep your pets safe is to avoid the things most likely to cause a problem. When properly hung, things like garland and ornaments might not prove as much of an issue, but smaller things like tinsel are always appealing to pets and can make them sick (or worse) if ingested. Avoid decorating with excessive tinsel, yarn, and ribbon to make sure nobody eats something they’re not supposed to, and if you’re the sort that loves mistletoe, try to buy the fake stuff - mistletoe can be toxic to many animals if eaten. Purchase Nontoxic When Possible Whenever possible, try to figure out if the decorations you’re going to use contain chemicals that could be harmful if ingested. Be careful when selecting a tree (since pine oil can cause liver damage in some pets), try to pick durable and non-toxic decorations (avoid a lot of treated glass, for example), and do your research on any kind of ‘fake snow’ or air freshener you use to make sure you’re buying the safest possible products. Keep Everything Out Of Reach This is easier said than done for some items, but preventing access to your decorations is a pretty surefire way to stop them from making a mess and getting hurt. Hanging up some decorative shelves or using wire shelving is an inexpensive way to add some height for things like lights and garland without letting it get too close to the ground for curious onlookers to chew on. This can be taken a step further by finding a way to mount your tree to the wall to prevent any sort of falling accidents. Be Careful With Electric Cords After the tree itself, one of the most common sources of pet hazard around the holidays are the proliferation of electric cords everywhere. Use some method of cord management - zip ties are fine but they might provide an extra plaything to chew on, so some method of wall- or ceiling-mounted cable management brackets to keep them away from curious eyes (and teeth). Watch Out For...Pee-Pee Look, there’s no good way to say this, but if there’s one thing pets love doing this time of year it’s...marking their territory on unknown trees. Try to raise your trees to prevent this issue, and if it’s unavoidable, make sure there’s some pads around it to help prevent any messes before they get too bad.