Making Halloween Safe for Your Pets

By: Zara Willmott

Making Halloween Safe for Pets: Who doesn’t love Halloween? The costume, the candy, the chocolate, the movies! It’s such a fun time of year.  But with all this fun comes safety concerns for your pets. Here are some tips to help to keep Halloween fun for all

Tips for inside the home:

1. Candy and Chocolate: They smell good and they come in fun packages that make noise, of course our pets want them but they can be the most dangerous.  Keep all candy and chocolate out of reach of your pets. Be sure to clean up any candy wrappers as well as cats in particular have been known to “hunt” these crinkly things., which can lead to tummy problems. chocolate especially is not a safe food for our pets but can smell very appetizing
2. Costumes: let’s start with human costumes. Some costumes will come with strings, ribbons, sequins and much more. Ensure that any “stray” costume pieces are picked up and put out of pets reach or disposed of properly.
3. Pet costumes: if you decide to dress your pet in a costume make sure its the right costume for them, this blog gives more tips on choosing costumes
4. Create a safe space: if your pets are prone to anxiety, create a room in the home just for them.  Use a pheromone spray or collar to help them feel calm during the Halloween hype.
5. Decorations: there is so really cool Halloween décor available most of which can be a hazard to your pet. A few things to be cognizant of: where candles are placed, fake blood, fake eyeballs and glow sticks (all these are fun things to chew and play with)

Tips for outside the home:

1. Keep pets indoors: where possible block your cats in another area of the home so they don’t sneak out when you have trick or treaters arrive. If you have a reactive dog, securing them in a room away from front door is wise. Walk dogs before night fall to avoid the excess crowds on the street
2. When walking pets be mindful of decorations in the neighborhood that could be attractive to pets. Also be mindful of any discarded candy and wrappers that could be lying around after Halloween
3. Update pet ids: ensure that your pet’s collar and ID tags are up to date and working properly. If your pet is microchipped, ensure that your info is up to date.  this will help greatly should your pet manage to sneak out during all the festivities

Halloween can be lots of fun! We hope these tips will help keep your furry friends happy and safe this Halloween!