Home is where the heart is, where the family is and where the fur babies are. We all live and play at home and these days many of us work at home. Home has become a central point for all things living these days. With us doing so much more at home, some folks are starting to do more of the things they love at home, like cooking, gardening, and backyard activities.

This is great! Really, it is. One of the silver linings of the pandemic is that people had an opportunity to reflect on priorities and spend more time with the people they love, doing the things they love. It brought us back to the reason why we work.

Doing more in the house can also mean that you are inadvertently creating a more toxic environment for your pets. Here are a few things around the house that could be harmful to your pets.

Plants

Sometimes dogs snack on grass and plants when they have upset stomachs. Gardening can be fun and keeps our yards looking bright, fresh and inviting. Our pups spend a lot of time out in the yard and if the yard is fenced in, they are often out there unsupervised for long periods of time. It’s important to keep plants that can harm our fur babies out of immediate reach of their occasional grazing. Here are a couple of plants that could be around your house:

For the home fruit and vegetable gardener, tomato leaves can be dangerous to pups.

Perhaps one of the most common indoor plants that are toxic to pets, aloe. I know I have several, inside and out.

For a more comprehensive list of indoor and outdoor plants that could be toxic to dogs and cats, visit:
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants

Food

It is so tempting to give your dog table food, especially when they look up at you with those adorable and yet sad puppy eyes. We’ve all heard that things like chicken bones, grapes, and even chocolate can be hazardous to the health of our fur babies but here are a few that you may not have heard before:

Avocados – I eat lots of avocados. So they’re usually on just about every sandwich. Slipping the dog a bit of a sandwich doesn’t sound all that harmful but it could be for the pups.

Some nuts, like walnuts and macadamia nuts. Walnuts are definitely a staple in my household. We put them in oatmeal in the morning and on salads in the afternoons and evenings.

For a more comprehensive list of foods that can be dangerous to your pet, visit:
https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/foods-can-be-poisonous-pets

Repellents and Poisons

Did you know mosquito repellent is toxic to pets? Honestly, before doing the research and reading this article from the ASPCA, I would have never thought to spray mosquito repellent on a dog, but on the flip side of that, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it being harmful to the pup.

Rather than try going into greater detail, I’ll simply share the full article:
https://www.aspcapro.org/resource/dont-deet-dog

Creating the home of your dreams means creating an environment that is safe for everyone. If ever you’re at a gardening center, you can always ask the experts if they know if a plant, herb, vegetable, etc. could be harmful to pets. Stay informed and stay healthy.

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