It’s a few days before Thanksgiving and that most wonderful time of the year will crank up into full swing. The holidays! We all look forward to making memories with our family, friends and our amazing pets. The combination of special meal prepping and a houseful of guests can lead to some interesting scenarios for you, your visitors and your pets and appliances. Here at Home-Tech we want nothing but the best for your holidays and also safety for your pets. We know they’re your special babies, so we em”bark” on the topic of why pets and appliances don’t mix.
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The Dishwasher Pre-Rinser
Wrigley is a Cub’s fan and dishwasher fan!
There’s not a dog in America who doesn’t dream of standing on the dishwasher door and licking off all the delicious leftovers and scraps from the plates and silverware. Not only is this hard on your dishwasher door and could break it, it’s hard on your dog. Dogs tend to lick the dishwasher door where there can be lingering harmful chemicals. So tell your dog no. Manyfoods are off limitsfor either health or poison reasons. When you have visitors over, you can never be sure what they’ve left on their dishes.
These foods are completely dangerous to dogs according to WebMD:
- chocolate
- raisins
- grapes
- bones (can shatter and puncture their mouths and stomachs)
- avocados
- dairy products
- onions and garlic
- caffeine, coffee, tea
- mushrooms
- alcohol and
- nuts (especially Macadamias).
So that mushroom and nut dressing recipe that’s been handed down from Grandma could be a handful for your dog. (By the way, follow this link to Martha’s Stewart’s yummy recipe.) It’s probably best to let your visitors know not to feed your dog any table scraps.
The Refrigerator Can be Ruff
Dogs and cats both find the refrigerator such a temptation because it’s loaded with yummy smelling goodies. Animals have great noses and always know where the food is. They are dog-gedly determined. They just wait for their moment to get in there. If you have your hands full with food prep, you might not be able to prevent it.
Just this morning when I opened my refrigerator my dog zoomed in and started licking a box of butter in a lower compartment in the door. Over a million people have viewed the YouTube video of five dogs getting ice from the fridge’s ice maker. (Take a peek here if you haven’t seen it). One Bradenton man had to install a padlock on his garage fridge door because his dog figured out how to open it.
Eating the wrong foods can be bad for your pet and your pet’s hair is bad for your refrigerator. Pets and appliances don’t mix. Check out this ice maker/water dispenser that one of our technicians found clogged with pet hair. It’s very important to regularly vacuum the bottom front of your refrigerator (vent). Also pull your refrigerator out periodically and vacuum the back panel.
Kittens with Service Agreements
The Cat’s Out of the Bag
Anyone that has a cat knows what curious independent creatures they are. They love dryers, especially after a load of clothes has just finished. It’s all nice and warm and cozy in there. Unfortunately too many cats have gotten trapped or hurt in dryers because the owner didn’t know they had sneaked in there. Always, always look inside your dryer and check carefully before you turn it on. These two cute kitties were trying very hard to help one of our technicians fix the dryer on his service call to their home. Cats just can’t resist a dryer door standing open and with extra company in the house a dangerous scenario could happen too easily.
Paws-itively a No No
Credit: Stephanie Davis – This is Pony
There used to be a prank where you would set someone’s shoelaces or shoes on fire and give them a hot foot. But a pet with a hot foot, burned on the stove top or oven door is no joke. Big dogs like to “cruise counter tops” and put their feet up so they can stand up and see what’s up there.
It’s way to easy for them to get a foot burned on a front burner or a hot pan. If your dog is hanging around the kitchen it’s best to cook on the back burners for safety’s sake. And cats can jump up on a stove top in a blink of an eye. Pets and appliances don’t mix. It may be best to put all the pets safely in a back room while you are cooking until things cool down.
Happy Thanksgiving
We hope you have a great holiday and enjoy it very much. As always Home-Tech will be open and available for any emergency appliance or air conditioning repairs that you may need. Keep your pets AND appliances in great shape this holiday season. Give your pets a special snuggle from us and everyone stay safe!