***Create a Pet-Safe Home*****

When safeguarding your house, it's easy to forget about the family pet. Ana T. Pieruccetti crawls on all fours in any rooms she designates for critters. "When I analyze a home, I need to be curious like animals are," says Pieruccetti, owner of Lucca Bella dog spa in Dallas. Kitchens and bathrooms — high-traffic areas for animals — contain chemicals that can be dangerous. Secure all liquids in cabinets with childproof locks. Countertops and hot stoves are an easy reach for gravity-defying felines. The lazy dog's favorite toilet "water bowls" can sicken a pet no matter how clean you think your bathroom is.
If your animals are your favorite office mates, make your home office pet-friendly. Job number one is to secure electrical cords. You can wrap cords in cable snakes or sliced tubing, put them behind bureaus, hide them under carpets or tape them down. Pet supply stores sell bitter-tasting solutions to deter chewing. If your animals spend time in the garage, place any chemicals — especially antifreeze — out of reach. Antifreeze is sweet-tasting to dogs and cats, but less than a teaspoon of the chemical is highly toxic. And use antifreeze with propylene glycol, which is safer for animals if ingested in small amounts and better for the environment.
Your pets can share the holidays with you, but many of the foods that humans love can make animals sick. Foods to watch out for include chocolate, macadamia nuts, onions, raisins, grapes and alcohol. Coffee grounds and cigarette butts are hazards as well. The best bet is to clear plates and empty the sink of leftovers. Place all garbage in cans with secure or locked lids. It's also a good idea to put a skirt around live Christmas trees to prevent your pet from drinking from the tree stand. It's a tempting water bowl, but any chemicals in the tree will leach into the water. Low-hanging Christmas tree ornaments might be seen as toys, but they can break and injure your pet.
Half the fun of new kittens and puppies is watching them explore. Keep an eye out when loading the dryer or dishwasher, or when starting the car (bang on the hood), since cats love warm nooks. Sometimes homemade animal toys, like crumpled aluminum paper, strings, buttons and rawhide chews, can be dangerous; pieces can break off the toy and lodge in an animal's digestive tract. Your best bet is to supervise animals when they're playing with anything. De-icing salts can sicken dogs if they lick it off their paws; wipe post-walk paws with a damp cloth or buy pet-safe de-icers.
If you store clothes under the bed in bags, skip the mothballs, because they're highly toxic to animals. Also, cordon off areas with holes in the walls. Chicken wire is great for blocking hard-to-reach spaces where animals, especially cats, can get stuck or hurt themselves. A number of houseplants can also be dangerous to animals, and you can find detailed listings of poisonous houseplants online. Pieruccetti's list for a good pet first-aid kit includes Biocaine lotion, dog pads, alcohol pads, cold packs, a magnifying glass for removing anything stuck in paws, eyewash and an emergency blanket. If you're uneasy treating your pet, call your vet. Most have 24-hour emergency numbers if you have an injury that can't wait.