5 Tips to Keep Your Pet Safe This Halloween

Date:

(5 Tips to Keep Your Pet Safe)

As I mentioned in my recent article on paw some pet Halloween costumes, more pet parents plan to involve their fur babies in Halloween celebrations in 2018 than last year. While costumes are fun and Halloween is a great family holiday, it can be terrifying for pets. And that’s not just because of the spooky ghosts and goblins.

For starters, Halloween is up there with July 4th and New Year’s Eve as a day for pets getting lost. While there may not be fireworks like on Independence Day, there are plenty of loud noises that can startle pets—both dogs and cats—and make them want to run away.

In addition, with trick-or-treaters showing up, your front door is likely to be open a lot more than usual. This could provide an easy escape route for a frightened feline or canine.

“Remember that Halloween can be scary for pets because of the amount of people in costume flooding the neighborhood streets and your home,” warns Ari Zabell, DVM, at Banfield Pet Hospital. “Keep your pet in a separate room of the house, away from the front door, so they don’t attempt an escape or feel threatened by the steady stream of costumed visitors.”

Another suggestion, courtesy of Dogtopia, the nation’s largest dog daycare, boarding and spa facility, is simply keeping your dog on a leash during the time that trick or treaters are coming to your door. This is the option we use each Halloween with our dogs Sadie and Oscar. That way we can keep any eye on them. Plus, the dogs aren’t stressed out from being off in a room by themselves while the doorbell rings constantly.

Here are five additional ways to keep your pets safe on Halloween.

1. Consider Halloween costumes carefully

If your pet despises dressing up, don’t force them to wear a costume. “A simple accessory, such as a bandana or bowtie, can be a nice compromise,” says Zabell. However, if your pet is OK with wearing a costume, make sure it doesn’t limit movement, hearing, eyesight or the ability to eat food or drink water.

2. Keep an eye on Halloween candy

Don’t leave all of that Halloween candy lying around if you have pets. Chocolate contains theobromine, a substance that can be poisonous to dogs and cats. Caramel apple sticks can also be swallowed and cause choking or an intestinal blockage. It’s the same with candy wrappers and packaging. Finally, another food to watch out for: raisins. They are also toxic to pets.

3. Put Halloween decorations out of your pet’s reach

Keep electric twinkle lights and extension cords elevated to a height your pet can’t reach to avoid chewing, which could result in an electric shock. Your pets can burn themselves or knock over a candle, creating a fire hazard. Therefore, keep all lit candles or pumpkins far from wagging tails and curious noses and whiskers.

4. Don’t dye your pet’s coat as a costume

You may have seen celebrities with their pooches with bright pink fur, but that’s not really a great idea, says Zabell. “The dyeing process can be unnecessarily stressful for the pet,” he says, “and many dyes contain toxins that can irritate your pet’s skin.”

5. Put your black cat someplace safe

While many people think about black cats and Halloween, there could be those thinking about doing mischief to your dark-as-night feline. Unfortunately, reports of animal cruelty to black cats tend to spike around Halloween.

Truth is any animal, not just black cats, could end up hurt on Halloween, unless their pet parents follow the simple tips above. It doesn’t take much to keep your fur babies safe and have a Happy Halloween.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

Search: 5 Tips to Keep Your Pet Safe

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Share post:

Subscribe to The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

Popular

More like this
Related

Biden visits Boebert’s district to reject Republican criticism of green policies

President Joe Biden used a backdrop of the world’s largest facility for wind tower manufacturing to sharpen his criticism of Republicans Wednesday, saying the company’s expansion validates an environmental agenda his political opponents want to undo.

VA has housed more than 38,000 homeless Veterans in 2023, surpassing goal two months early

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it has permanently housed 38,847 homeless Veterans through October of 2023 — surpassing the calendar year goal to house 38,000 Veterans two months early.  

Man Arrested for Drug Sales and Possession of Stolen Property

On November 29, 2023, at 3:30 a.m., deputies from the Lake Elsinore Station conducted a check of an occupied vehicle that was stopped in traffic lanes on Grape Street, near the intersection of Railroad Canyon Road, Lake Elsinore.

Banker involved in big loans to Trump’s company testifies for his defense in civil fraud trial

When Deutsche Bank loaned Donald Trump’s company hundreds of millions lawyers of dollars, the bank always followed its own guidelines that include checking out information that would-be borrowers provide, an executive testified Tuesday at the former president’s civil fraud trial.