Why is tinsel harmful to cats? What holiday decor is unsafe?

Question

I know tinsel is dangerous to cats, but why is it harmful? And what about other holiday decorations?

Christie Long, DVM · Accepted Answer

Cats and holiday decorations don’t always mix well. As curious animals, cats tend to explore any new additions to their environment and see many of these shiny, new objects as fun toys. Tinsel is the ultimate shiny object for a cat to play with, which often ends with subsequent ingestion. If ingested, tinsel poses a serious risk of causing an intestinal blockage, also known as a linear foreign body obstruction. This life-threatening surgical emergency can easily be avoided by keeping tinsel out of homes with cats. Other holiday decorations can pose problems to particularly curious cats, such as strings of lights that some cats may try to chew, decorative ornaments or snow globes that look like toys to bat around, or poisonous plants, such as mistletoe or poinsettias. When decorating for the holidays, try to look at your house from your cat’s point of view and keep decorations that look like enticing toys packed away.

Why is tinsel harmful to cats? What holiday decor is unsafe?

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