🎄12 Reasons Pets Needs Health Insurance Before Christmas🎄

Pet health insurance is the perfect gift to give your paw pal this festive season. Even better is getting them a pet plan before Christmas arrives, bringing along with it food dangers, tinsel tangles and other potential festive mishaps.

Consider that if your pet eats just one bite of Christmas cake containing a raisin they could land up in veterinary emergency care. As joyful as the festive season is, pets are likelier to experience many more dangers like this now than most other times of the year.

Wouldn’t you have a better holiday knowing your pet insurance could help cover any unexpected medical costs? Imagine the sweet relief of being safeguarded, so you can enjoy spending up on family, friends and fun, fun, fun this Christmas…

Why pet health insurance is crucial over Christmas

Christmas is an unbeatable time of year when we change up our routines, see lots of old friends and reunite with family. To say we can’t wait is an understatement! However, all the added activity does present more and new dangers to pets.

Pet health insurance can help cover treatment costs for accidental injuries, illnesses, dental problems and more depending on your chosen pawlicy. But only if you have your pet’s plan in place before the damage is done.

Here are 12 reasons pet health insurance can benefit your pet as an early Christmas gift:

1. Chocolate
2. Poinsettia
3. Tinsel and baubles
4. Christmas lights
5. Mince pies / Christmas cake
6. Sparklers / fireworks
7. Gravy
8. Bones
9. Candles
10. Summer heat
11. Pine needles, holly and mistletoe
12. Gift wrap

See any festive dangers here you didn’t already know about? Scroll through to see why some of the fabulous shiny/tasty/scented Christmas delights that are good for humans aren’t so great for our pets.

#1 Chocolates

Most humans LOVE chocolate and most pets LOVE trying out what their mums and dads are doing. Sure that might just take the form of a sniff but it’s a small hop, skip and jump to eating the stuff then landing at the vet on Christmas night!

Read more on chocolate toxicity in dogs and cats.

#2 Poinsettia

Poinsettia is a firm favourite decorative plant over Christmas. Its bright red leaves look lovely and some cats and dogs might take that to mean it tastes lovely too. Although Poinsettia isn’t fatal to cats and dogs (but were once thought to be) it can nevertheless cause stomach upsets.

Keep them out of reach of pets who’ve a penchant to look, sniff and taste test. Ditto with those food leftovers – a couple of hours in the Aussie heat and you’re on your way to food poisoning. Read more on what causes vomiting in dogs.

#3 Tinsel and baubles

Christmas decorations are a-plenty, from rows of glass and plastic baubles to lengths of tinsel and sprinklings of stars. What’s more – they dangle! Can you imagine the curiosity that piques in an inquisitive cat or daring dog? Not only can these decorations cause cuts to the tongue and mouth if bitten but they can also cause lacerations internally if swallowed.

This can happen with any pet, though if you’ve a teething puppy it’s even less of a stretch to imagine this type of mishap! Read more on puppy teething and how to protect them (and your Christmas presents/food/clothes etc.).

#4 Christmas lights

Christmas lights pose a triple-whammy reason for having pet health insurance before you decorate your tree. Of course, biting on Christmas lights can quickly cause an electric shock to your cat or dog. Then there’s the damage of splintered glass and tangled cables around the neck… You get the picture.

#5 Mince pies and Christmas cake

Although mince pies and Christmas cake are staple menu items in many Aussie households they contain raisins and currants, both of which are poisonous to dogs. It’s not just dried raisins and currants either, those summery fresh grapes also do damage so keep them away from your perky pooch.

Here are some other things that can poison your pet – all cause for year-round reasons to get them a pet health insurance plan.

#6 Sparklers and fireworks

Sparklers and fireworks pose a double trouble reason to get your pet health insurance asap. While these beautiful displays of lights, bangs and smoky goodness can enhance the festivities they can be loud and scary for pets as well as poisonous.

Read about pet safety and fireworks this holiday season.

#7 Gravy

Roast pork, turkey and golden potatoes are incomplete without a healthy dose of gravy. But alas, the tastiest ingredients that make gravy delicious, like onion and garlic, are dangerous to pets. Be aware of this if you feed your pet any titbits under the table.

It’s far kinder to create suitable treats just for them rather than share your dinner. Read about safe DIY Christmas dinner recipes for pets.

#8 Cooked bones

Regardless of whether we’re talking turkey, pork, chicken or lamb, cooked bones are a Christmas no-no for pets. Cooked bones are leeched of their nutrients and become brittle, which means they easily crack and splinter once swallowed, causing intestinal lacerations and damage.

Read more on why the answer to can dogs eat bones that are cooked (and sometimes raw) is a resounding NO!

#9 Pine needles, holly and mistletoe

This iconic trio of Christmas plant decorations are all poisonous to pets if ingested. Another reason you’ll want pet health insurance before these plants arrive. So too, is that they can also puncture internally once swallowed. Even if you opt for plastic holly, the sharp pointy bits can be just as dangerous if ingested.

Read about more plants that are toxic to pets.

#10 Gift wrap (and what’s inside)

Like tinsel and long rows of electric lights, gift wrapping and ribbon can be a messy tangle with potential to catch around your pet’s neck or legs. This is dangerous if you’re not there to help disentangle them and they start to suffocate or panic.

Another pesky issue with gift wrap is that lots of it is made of plastic. Bubble wrap for example is a choking hazard. If your pet swallows it whole, it also stands the chance of causing intestinal blockages. Same goes for toys and other goodies that come inside the gift wrap. Read more on toxic ingestion and choking risks.

#11 Candles

If you’re after that warm glow of Christmas hygge, you’ll probably have lots of candles. While oh so good for us humans, candles (especially scented ones) might seem enticing to pets to eat. Unfortunately, essential oils and other fragrances as well as flammable petrochemicals used to make candles can be harmful to pets.

Read more on why candles and other common household items can be bad for pets.

#12 Summer heat

Summer is the hottest time of year and for pets that are clad in a thick layer of fur rising temperatures can be dangerous. Brachycephalic breeds (flat nosed breeds) like the Pug dog and Exotic Shorthair cat are also at greater risk of heat stroke in pets than most others.

If you suddenly need to rush your pet to the vet because of overheating or dehydration, having pet health insurance can help your heart not skip a beat. Also read how to keep pets cool this summer.

Cover for the festive season and beyond

Like Netflix, with PD Insurance you can pay for pet health insurance monthly with no lock-in contracts. That means there’s no time to waste on signing your pet up before the tinsel goes up and the gift wrap comes out.

You’ll enjoy Christmas with your pet with greater peace of mind, having ensured their health is safeguarded against a range of sticky situations. With affordable quality cover that’s fast and easy to claim when you need it, you might decide to keep your pet’s plan well after the festive season too.

With PD you get one or more months of award winning pet insurance FREE. Click below to get your quote.