5 Halloween Safety Tips For Your Pet

BY | October 17 | COMMENTS PUBLISHED BY
5 Halloween Safety Tips For Your Pet

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Itโ€™s almost that time of the year again where children go trick-or-treating and thereโ€™s a lot of candy lying around everywhere. Halloween is almost upon us and keeping our pets safe on the spookiest night of the year has to be a priority. Here are a few tips you can follow in order to keep your animal friends safe this Halloween.

  1. Keep Trick-Or-Treat Candies Away From Your Pet.Any and all kinds of chocolate can be dangerous to your dog. Especially dark chocolate or baking chocolate. Keep these delicious human treats away from animals. Chocolate poisoning can have severe effects on your dog. The symptoms related to chocolate poisoning are diarrhea, vomiting, rapid breathing, seizures, and an increase in heart rate. Chocolate isnโ€™t the only treat that can be dangerous for your dogs.Another threat to your dogโ€™s health this Halloween is the sweetener called xylitol thatโ€™s used in candies. Xylitol can cause an immediate drop in your dogโ€™s blood sugar levels causing seizures and a loss of coordination. Although the toxicity of Xylitol is still to be determined in cats, keep them away. After all, youโ€™re better safe than sorry.
  2. Keep Your Pets Away From The Door. Halloween is one of the busiest nights of the year with children barging in for candy every few seconds. These little strangers who are loud and unusually dressed are especially scary for your dogs. Your dogs are extremely territorial and that could pose a threat to the trick-or-treaters. Keeping your dog confined in a secure room also prevents him from running out into the night. A scary night where no one wants to be out looking for a lost pet.
  3. Never Leave Pets Out In The Yard During Halloween. Certain pranksters are known to go as far as kidnapping and even killing animals during Halloween. All that can be prevented if you keep your dog in a safe room in the house.
  4. Keep Electric Light Cords Out Of Your Dogโ€™s Reach. If your pet chews on a wire, he could possibly get a life-threatening shock. Cats are drawn to bright things. If she chews on sparkly Christmas lights, sheโ€™ll end up getting cuts inside her mouth that can lead to infections.
  5. Make Sure He Has Contact Information Written On His Collar. On the slight chance that he does get lost on this busy night, it is of utmost importance that you keep an ID on his tag so that whoever finds him will be able to return him to you. Make sure you provide contact details including your number, an alternative number, and your home address.Donโ€™t let negligence be the cause of disaster during Halloween. Protect your pets from this scary night by taking proper precautions.

Some more safety tips to make the most of Halloween for both you and your dog.

7 Tips for a Safer Halloween Costume for Your Pet

Halloween is almost upon us, and with it the throngs of costumed party-goers and trick-or-treaters, the temptation to get your pets involved is almost overwhelming, but beware! People are often so wrapped up in making sure their petsโ€™ costumes look amazing, they forget to make sure it's safe. There are a number of health considerations that should be made before you give your pet the full Halloween treatment.

1) They Need to be Down With Getting Dressed Up

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This is probably the most important step. If your pet is not going to tolerate wearing a costume, that should probably be the end of it. You can try putting them in a themed collar, or maybe use some pet safe face paint to give them a taste of Halloween, but you should never force your furry pal to wear anything they are uncomfortable with.

2) They Gotta Love the Limelight

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Pets in public draw attention. Pets in costume have them lined up around the block. This is an important fact to consider. If your pet does not do well as the center of attention, wearing a costume in public might not be the best idea. You can still take them around, but you should keep an eye on how they are coping with the stress.

3) The Costume Shouldn't Be a Choking Hazard

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For pets that are cool with wearing costumes (and the attention that ensues), it is still important to make sure that their costume is not a health risk. Little plastic bits or strands of elastic can easily go from being cute decorations to choking hazards. It is best to make certain that there is no part of the costume that your pet can easily chew off or get wrapped around their neck.

4) Make Sure They Are Visible

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Part of what makes Halloween so fun is getting to walk the streets, dressed up in our ghoulish best, under the cover of darkness; itโ€™s almost the entire point! However, taking your pet out this late comes with its own sets of risks. A good idea is to include a reflective strip somewhere on your pet's costume, or an LED light. Anything to help make them more visible.

5) Keep Your Pets Hydrated

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For people, wearing a costume is not much different from what we do every day -- namely, wear clothes. For a pet that wears clothes roughly never, wearing a costume over their permanent fur coat can cause them to overheat. That, along with being outside for extended periods of time, could result in a dehydrated pet. A good idea is to carry a bottle of water around with you, giving your buddy a drink every few blocks.

6) Keep Their Tags On

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To make your pet more comfortable, you might be inclined to take off their collar, considering their costume is probably already wrapped around their neck in some way. Donโ€™t! Halloween can be a chaotic time, and with this heightened risk of getting separated, it is best to leave their ID tags on. Should your pet get spooked or distracted and run off, it helps to know that anyone who finds them will know to whom this pet belongs. Beats running around your neighborhood yelling โ€œHas anyone seen a beagle dressed as Batman?!โ€

7) Absolutely No Candy!

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Not exactly costume safety, but important nonetheless: Chocolate is dangerous to cats and dogs, and many kids are unaware of that fact. Thinking they are just being nice by sharing some of their hard earned loot, a child might try to give your pet a bit of a candy bar, which could mean a late night trip to the vet for you. Better to keep an eye on what is going into their mouth.

Will You or Won't You?

Dressing up pets is not a universally loved practice -- some dislike the idea of a pet in costume, seeing it as inappropriate or downright oppressive. What do you think? Tell us in the comments.

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