Holiday plants can enhance the overall feel of your home this Christmas, but you need to make sure that you are not doing this at the risk of your furry friend. A lot of the season specific plants are dangerous for pets, so you need to ensure that you are taking extra care when decorating this year. If you don’t already know what some of these plants are, then it’s a good thing that you have come across this article because we are going to be looking at some of them down below.

Holly

You should really keep your pets away from all types of holly, but English and Christmas are the worst possible options. Your pet could start experiencing vomiting, diarrhoea and gastrointestinal distress if they consume any of the holly. The leaves can also cause your pet a lot of issues as they can irritate the mouth, causing high levels of discomfort and lead to your pet violently shaking their head trying to get rid of the leaf. This in itself is dangerous, so it’s just best to avoid holly altogether.

Mistletoe

The good thing about this is that it is usually hung high up so there is little chance that your pet will even be able to access it. However, if they do get it, then they could be in for a bad time. The mixture of toxalbumin and phoratoxin viscumin is extremely harmful to pets, especially cats and dogs. Some of the signs to look out for that suggest your dog has had mistletoe are problems with breathing, hallucinations and a drop in blood pressure. However, it has been thought that high levels of this can lead to seizures and even death, so do be careful.

Amaryllis

The bulb is the most dangerous part of this flower rather than the petals or leaves. This part of the plant contains toxins like Lycorine and phenanthridine alkaloids. These are extremely dangerous for your pet and can cause drooling, abdominal pain, vomiting and a decrease in appetite. Tremors have also been linked to this plant. It’s probably best to keep all of these plants out of reach of your pets, and instead let them enjoy the best dry puppy food UK pet owners know and love. You know they won’t be ingesting harmful toxins, and they get a tasty treat.

Pine

Finally, pine is bad for your pets. Fir trees contain particular oils that can irritate your dog’s mouth and stomach, which can cause vomiting and pain. Because of the shape of the needles, your pet could also experience a puncture or obstruction in their digestive tract, which is not going to be a very pleasant experience for them. Also make sure that you aren’t letting your pet ingest the water from this plant because even in small doses, it can do a lot of harm.

We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now know some of the popular holiday plants that are dangerous to pets.

A portable pizza oven comes with a lot of benefits. Before you go out and purchase one, there are some things you need to consider.

Residential Habits: If you are going to move often then a portable pizza oven is the best choice for you. If you don’t plan on moving then you can choose a built-in pizza oven to go into your backyard. If you do need to move, keep in mind that a brick oven in an outdoor kitchen can be considered an extension of the living space and add value to your home.

Location of the Oven: Portable pizza ovens are the most flexible when it comes to location. They can be called backyard pizza ovens because they can be moved around the background. If you want to install an assembled oven then you want to test the different oven placements before you purchase. The weight and dimensions are important to check before buying. Outdoor pizza kits are usually made in a way that every single piece can be carried by two people so it’s easier to install in less accessible places. No matter what kind of pizza oven you choose, you need to install it in an area where your yard isn’t too inclined. The place where the pizza oven is going to be used will need to be level.

How Much Time You Want to Spend with the Oven: Some ovens will take much more time to heat up and you need to prepare for this. Cooking in a brick oven can even be a whole day activity and part of the social gathering. If you don’t want to spend that much time with your pizza oven then you want to choose one with a lower thermal mass. Assembled ovens have shorter heat-up times. Portable wood fire ovens have the fastest heat-up times so you only need to start the oven a half-hour before dinner.

What You Want to Cook: Many people only have pizzas in mind but there is a lot you can cook in a wood fire oven. Both brick and portable ovens will do almost all styles of cooking. If you do want to make a true Neapolitan pizza then you need high temperatures and only brick ovens are able to reach this type of temperature. Low heat cooking can be possible in dual chamber portable ovens and these ovens have great temperature control as long as you have some patience.

Cooking Surface Dimensions: While you may only want to cook one pizza at a time because it’s more manageable, it doesn’t mean that a smaller oven is the best choice. You want to have some extras space on the cooking surface for rotating and handling food.