Tips for a Safe Halloween with Your Pets

As Halloween draws nearer, many of us are either ramping up kids for the big night, or getting ready to dress up and parade our pets around. The ASPCA is offering “trick-free” Halloween tips to help pet parents avoid potential hazards as they celebrate Halloween tomorrow.

According to the ASPCA:

“That parade of kids, adults—and yes, even pets—in funny outfits is due to arrive at your door, bringing all the sweet and scary joys of Halloween! But pet parents, as you carve the Jack-O-Lanterns and fill those bowls of candy, please be aware that your furry friends may stumble upon dangers you hadn’t thought of.

Warns Dr. Steven Hansen, board-certified veterinary toxicologist and senior vice president, ASPCA Animal Health Services, which includes the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center in Urbana, IL, “Many of our favorite Halloween traditions could pose a potential threat to our companion animals. As pet parents start to make plans for trick-or-treating or costumes, they should be aware of Halloween-related products and activities that can be potentially dangerous to pets.”

Here are some of the ways animal lovers can keep their pets safe this Hallow’s Eve:

1. Skip the sweets. Several popular Halloween treats are toxic to pets. Candies containing the artifical sweetener Xylitol can be poisonous to dogs. Even small amounts of xylitol can cause a sudden drop in blood sugar, which leads to depression, lack of coordination and seizures. “Chocolate, especially baker’s and dark chocolate can also be potentially poisonous to animals, especially dogs,” advises Dr. Hansen. Symptoms of significant chocolate ingestion may include vomiting, diarrhea, hyperactivity, and increased thirst, urination and heart rate, and even seizures.

2. Watch out for those wrappers. Cats especially love to play with candy wrappers, but ingesting aluminum foil or cellophane can cause intestinal blockage and induce vomiting.

3. Trick-or-treating is for kids, not pets. During trick-or-treating hours, it’s best to keep pets in a room away from your front door. “Halloween brings a flurry of activity with visitors constantly arriving at the door, and pets may escape the safety of their home. Be sure that your pet has identification tags should he/she accidentally get loose,” recommends Gail Buchwald, senior vice president of the ASPCA Pet Adoption Center in Manhattan. Make sure your pet is wearing a collar with tags and/or is microchipped.

4. Careful with costumes! If you dress us your pet for Halloween, make sure the costume does not limit his movement, hearing, sight, or ability to breathe or bark. Also check the costume for choking hazards. A smart alternative to dressing your pet from head-to-paw? A simple, festive Halloween bandana.

5. Decorations can be dangerous. Re-think putting candles in Jack-O-Lanterns. Pets can easily knock them over, and curious kittens are particularly at risk of getting burned by candle flames. Also take care to prevent your pets from having access to wires and cords from holiday decorations. If chewed, a wire can damage your pet’s mouth from shards of glass or plastic, or deliver a potentially lethal electrical shock.

*On a more personal note, if you have a black cat, be sure he/she is safely inside on Halloween night. You never know if some superstitous whacko will scoop your black cat up in the name of Halloween fowl play. My black cat got catnapped one Halloween when she was a baby and ever since then, it’s indoors for her all day and all night on Halloween.