Annual Holiday Rant - 10 tips to a happier Holiday

Since it's right before Thanksgiving and lots of you will be putting up holiday decorations this weekend, I thought I'd take the plunge and do the "Annual Holiday Rant".

While the holiday season is great for most of us with only moderate blasts of anxiety, stress and over-indulgence, holidays for our pets are full of too many strange things in the house, strange people in the house, food they can't/ shouldn't eat in the house, bad weather that keeps them in the house, being outside too long because we were busy and forgot to let them back into the house, being boarded while the family goes away from the house and a TREE (in the house) that we either climb in the yard (if you're a cat) or urinate on (if you're a dog) that is to be stoically ignored, and so on. As you may have guessed, IN THE HOUSE is a key theme here. That means rugs, carpets and furniture.

Now, more than any other time of year, we are inundated with pet bodily waste related to any or all of the above. Here's some useful hints to help you and your furry family members survive until Spring.

1. Don't let your pet drink the tree water. This seems like great, good common sense but can be harder than it first appears. Use a tree skirt that covers the base, place the packages so pets can't get to the water basin, get a fake tree. When they fill up with it, it needs to go somewhere.... and they'll either vomit or urinate.

2. If you must have decorations on the bottom of your tree, consider plastic or non-breakable ornaments. Tinsel can cause bowel obstructions, broken glass can cut the inside of the mouth and cause internal bleeding. Tinsel on the tree is cute, tinsel in poop isn't. Unless you want to hang it on the tree.

3. Keep light wires away from your pets. Chewing extension cords or lights can have an "electrifying" experience for your pet. You can tape over cords on the floor with 2 inch blue painters non marking tape or cover them with mats.

4. Keep strings, ribbons and wrapping paper picked up and away. Sometimes our pets think that these are toys. String or ribbon can be ingested and will usually reappear in unattractive ways. Wrapping paper dyes can turn bodily wastes interesting colors and can leave permanent stains. Ink pens & felt tips as well.

5. Get out the vacuum cleaner and keep the pine needles cleaned up. These little stinkers get tracked into my house all year round and I have two dogs so I know all about this one. Triple with a Christmas tree and wet weather. When ingested they can cause vomiting or get stuck in the throat.

6. Put the tree in an out of the way place where it won't get knocked over! Just because the tree looks good in the middle of the room or entry just remember that when the basin gets overfilled and Uncle Charlie has a couple of drinks - worlds collide! After the wet spot sits under the tree until sometime in January, turns black with mold and mildew, possibly gets dry rot and smells badly, please don't be surprised that it can't be repaired. Think about anchoring the tree to the wall someplace. Don't hang the cat's catnip or jerkey treats on the tree either, it's an invitation to disaster.

7. Candles. Watch them carefully...wax is a pain to get out and pets are often fascinated by the flickering lights.

8. Pets don't do well with holiday food designed for people. Alcohol, chocolate, candy, neon colored frosting, gingerbread, eggnog, peanuts, popcorn, potato chip dip, smoked salmon......ahhh yes, the list goes on. Also no chicken or turkey bones.

9. Mistletoe, holly, poinsettias and other holiday plants are poisonous. Both cats and dogs eat grass for their digestion outdoors but don't let them chew on holiday greenery. We'll all be sorry.

10. A calm pet is a good pet. Take your dogs for a short walk or throw a toy, play with your kitty, feed them dinner, let them out for a good long potty break and then let them hang out in a familiar, out of the way room with their favorite blanket and a chew toy when guests arrive. Sometimes the excitement of visitors can prompt accidents of all kinds. If they need to visit, do so after the excitement dies down.

Check with the ASPCA for additional cold weather and holiday tips for your pets.

If you DO have one of those magic "holiday moments" here's a link to Rug Rags online spotting guide or come visit us at Emmanuel's for FREE sample of spotter and a printed spotting guide to keep on hand for emergencies!

There - over for the year. Happy Holidays.

Thea

Weather and rug cleaning in Seattle

There's an old joke that it only rains twice a year here in Seattle: Once for for 182 days and once for 183. Happily this is untrue and we do get lots of lovely sun, but when the grey days set in they seem to last forever.

No surprise that business is fueled by both. When the sun's out clients notice how everything needs to be cleaned, when it rains even the cats and dogs don't want to go outside and accidents happen. You can even check out flea activity on the weather channel. All that wet stuff gets tracked inside as well. Did you know that one grain of sand can have up to 24 cutting edges and when that stuff gets into your rugs and carpets it's like a bazillion little hacksaws making your floor coverings prematurely old? Tan wall to wall carpet can hide up to one pound of sand per square foot and a Chihuahua can urinate five gallons of urine a year. Of course if you don't want that urine in your carpet, you can use it decrease your risk of heart disease......that you get from lack of exercise in Seattle when it's raining. Just checking to see if anyone out there has a sense of humor.

It's a wonder to me how some rugs last hundreds of years and some look like ICK in two or three.

We have high wind warnings through tomorrow with four to eight inches of rain expected in the "higher elevations" with possible flood warnings. I expect that rug and carpet cleaning will keep us busy in Seattle.