How to Keep Pets Away From Holiday Candles Safely
Keep glow without risk: raise candles high, swap scents for flameless light, and shield dogs, cats, and birds.
Keep pets away from holiday candles — scented wax lights burned for seasonal ambiance — by never leaving flames unattended around animals. Place working candles high, stable, and out of reach, and swap open flames near pets for flameless battery light. Curious paws and wagging tails can tip flames and burn animals or start house fires.
Dogs, cats, and birds each face different risks from heat, wax, scent, and smoke. Small setup changes keep the seasonal look while lowering those risks.
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Why lit candles threaten pets and homes
The ASPCA warns never to leave lit holiday candles unattended around pets, as noted in the ASPCA's Holiday Safety Tips. Curious paws and wagging tails can knock candles over. That fall can burn the animal or start a house fire.
Cornell Riney Canine Health Center, citing National Fire Protection Association data, reports about 1,000 home fires per year are started by dogs and cats, often by knocking over candles or touching stoves, as described in Cornell's fire-safety guidance for pets. About 40,000 pets die yearly in those fires, mainly from smoke inhalation. Smoke harms pets fast, even when flames never reach them.
Where should you put candles you still light?
Cornell Riney Canine Health Center advises placing candles high, stable, in sturdy enclosed holders at least 12 inches from combustibles and out of pets' reach. Extinguish them when leaving the room. A closed holder blocks tails, whiskers, and paws better than an open dish.
Use these steps each time you light a candle:
- Set it on a high, level shelf or mantel, inside a heavy glass chimney or lantern.
- Keep cords, drapes, garlands, and paper 12 inches or more away.
- Close the room door or move the pet out, then blow out the flame when you leave.
When does flameless light work better?
Cornell Riney Canine Health Center recommends flameless battery and bulb candles as a swap for open flames. They keep holiday ambiance while removing burn, knock-over, and smoke risks for dogs and cats. They also work well near doorways, low tables, and pet beds.
Use flameless lights where pets play, sleep, or pass often. Save any wick candle for a high spot you can watch the whole time. Blow it out before cooking, leaving, or sleeping.
Which waxes and scents should you avoid?
BC SPCA and veterinary guidance shared through Rover advise avoiding paraffin wax, lead-core wicks, phthalates, and heavy synthetic fragrance. Those materials can release benzene, toluene, and soot into room air. Choose plain soy, beeswax, coconut, or vegetable wax with an unbleached cotton wick, and ventilate the room during and after burning.
Pet Poison Helpline lists tea tree, eucalyptus, pine, cinnamon, citrus and limonene, peppermint, wintergreen and sweet birch, pennyroyal, clove, and ylang ylang as causing poisoning in cats or dogs, as explained in Pet Poison Helpline's essential-oils update. Do not burn candles with those scents around pets. Plain, lightly scented, or unscented wax lowers the breathing risk.
Why do birds need stricter candle rules?
The Veterinary Center for Birds and Exotics warns to keep lit and scented candles entirely out of bird airspace, as explained in holiday bird-safety guidance for birds. Avian airways react strongly to perfume aerosols and soot. Feathers also ignite easily if a bird flies near a flame.
Use scentless flameless candles in rooms where birds fly or sit. Do not carry a lit taper past a cage or play stand. Move the bird to closed, fresh-air quarters before guests light candles nearby.
What if a pet chews wax or breathes smoke?
Even unscented soy or beeswax candles are unsafe if reachable or unattended, according to veterinary guidance shared through Rover. Ingested wax can still cause stomach upset or blockage. Supervise pets in rooms with candles, matches, and warmers.
Call a veterinarian or poison control right away for chewing, drooling, vomiting, coughing, breathing trouble, or lethargy. Note the candle type, scent, and amount eaten. Do not wait for signs to fade on their own.