Caring for your pet during the season

During Christmas and New Year celebrations, children love to light fire crackers and light up their home with bulbs and other beautiful decorations. While the whole family is busy decorating the house and preparing the gifts and goodies, your pets are sure to get a bit neglected.

Do you know that the festival season is a time that affects your pet the most? They will be scared by all the noise, especially that of fire crackers, the lights and the many visitors.

There is the possibility that your pet will try to escape from the house. So you must pay it special attention during this season.

First of all, make sure that your pet is wearing some sort of identification. Then, even if it's lost, someone will be able to return your pet to you. Also, keep some photographs of your pet ready to put up around the place just in case it gets lost.

To avoid your pet escaping, keep it indoors in a place where it will feel protected. A quiet interior room is the best.

Pets that are kept outside the house should be kept in a garage or even a cage. If possible, stay with your pet for sometime to comfort and reassure it, particularly if it's very excitable.

Here are some other things from which you should protect your pet:

Electrocution

Christmas is a time when you find electrical cords, bulbs and other gadgets lying all around the house. If a pet happens to chew on such things, it could prove to be fatal. Whenever possible, keep electrical cords out of their reach.

Plastic food wraps

Plastic food wraps can cause choking or intestinal obstruction. Some dogs will eat the plastic wrapping when there are leftover food coating its surface.

Tinsel and other Christmas tree ornaments

When eaten by a dog or a cat, these things may cause obstruction of the intestines; the sharp edges of tinsel can even cut the intestines. If this happens to your pet, it will display symptoms such as decreased appetite, vomiting, diarrhoea and weight loss.

Aluminium foil

When eaten, aluminum foil can cut the pet's intestines, causing internal bleeding, and in some cases, even death.

These are some of the dangers that await your pet during the festive season. Most pets get lost during the season because they run away for the noise of fire crackers.

Identify them and protect your pet and you'll all be able to enjoy an accident-free festive season.

Janani Amarasekera

Fillie Dina, the Lake House cat

A few months ago, a female cat, fat and carrying young ones inside her, came to spend her time near the Sunday Observer editorial.

This white cat with black and ginger patches spent most of her time near a bin, where remnants of lunch is thrown. Soon, we learned that she was cleverer than to eat thrown-away food. For, long hours she pretended to be dead and caught the rats who tried to feed from the bin. Now, some kind person has got rid of the rats. However, the lack of rats doesn't seem to have affected this cat too much, because she is fat as ever!

In the meantime, the cat went missing; she had littered, meaning she had had her young ones. But, no one knows where this mother cat has hidden her kittens, who are no doubt, chubby and cute like her.

Now, the cat walks about Lake House, just as if she is a big-wig here, and cares for nobody around. She parks herself wherever she pleases; right in the middle of the corridor, at the entrance to a department, at the foot of a staircase or even the entrance to Lake House itself. Nothing or no one can budge her.

This manner of hers has caught the attention of most of the Lake House employees. She is also very cute, especially when she sleeps rolled up, or sits curled up, like God of Plenty, as she is on the podgy side.

I've named her Fillie Dina. May Fillie Dina live long with us! May her children increase and by it, keep us happy!

Our cat Fillie Dina

Our comely cat, slightly

patched and white,

We love down from our

marrow,

She gives us joy, when things

aren't right;

She fills our hearts with

encore.

She catches mice to serve

Lake House

More than a pussy cat could,

She's not paid, but bears

no grouse,

Fillie'll be born a girl - she

should.

Elmo Leonard