Spooky season is here and for fans of Halloween it can be one of the most fun times of the year, but keeping your pets safe doesn’t have to be scary. We recommend following these easy, common sense tips to keep your pet happy and healthy during Halloween.
Avoid Costume Calamities
For many pets, wearing a costume can create stress. Don’t force your dog or cat into a costume unless you know he or she likes it or tolerates it well. Ensure the costume doesn’t limit their ability for movement, their vision or breathing or their bark or meow. Inspect the costume carefully for small, dangling or easily chewed-off pieces that could be a choking hazard. Ill-fitting outfits can get twisted on external objects or your pet, leading to injury. Don’t leave your pet unsupervised while it is wearing a costume.
Pay Attention to Decorations
A carved jack-o-lantern is frighteningly festive, pets could easily knock over a lit pumpkin and start a fire. Curious cats or kittens are especially at risk of getting burned or singed by candle flame. Popular Halloween plants such as pumpkins and decorative corn are considered relatively nontoxic, but can produce stomach discomfort in pets who nibble on them.
Keep Your Pets Secure
Halloween night brings a lot of activity with visitors arriving frequently at the door, many of which are strangers and this can be scary or stressful for pets. Dogs & cats should be kept in a separate room away from the front door during peak trick-or-treating. When opening the door be sure that your pet doesn’t dart outside. And always ensure your dog or cat is wearing proper identification—if for any reason they do escape, a collar with ID tags and/or a microchip or GPS tracker can be a lifesaver for a lost pet.
Mind the Treats
Keep the candy handy for trick-or-treaters but out of reach for Fido. Many of the popular Halloween treats are toxic to pets. Chocolate in its multiple forms (especially dark or baking chocolate) can be very dangerous for pets. Even sugar-free treats that contain the sugar substitute xylitol can cause serious problems for pets. If you believe your p
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