Costumes? Check! Candy? Check! Now cross off the last (and most important) thing on your Halloween checklist, which is keeping your pets comfortable and safe during trick-or-treating. Follow these Halloween safety tips for pets to ensure fun festivities for all.
The candy bowl is for trick-or-treaters, not for pets. Not only can cats and dogs choke on lollipop sticks and plastic wrappers, but sweets and sugar substitutes can be extremely dangerous for animals as well. The best advice we have is to bookmark the Pet Poison Helpline and familiarize yourself with symptoms in case your dog or cat gets into poisonous candies like chocolate. Or several of our customers use our Shields® Indoor Solutions to set avoidance boundaries in advance to protect dogs from eating Halloween candy in the first place.
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You may aim to have the spookiest house on the block, but remember that some decorations can be hazardous for pets. Don’t leave curious cats unattended near lit jack-o-lanterns, and don’t leave tempting wires and cords for your dog to chew. Likewise, if you plan to put out carved pumpkins, corn or hay, make sure pets don’t nibble on them, as they can cause choking and digestive issues.
With all of the additional chaos, pets can easily go missing on Halloween night. Be a responsible pet owner on Halloween and keep your pets indoors. With so many strangers walking by, it is important to take preventable measures to keep your pets happy and safe. Pet identification and microchips are recommended year-round.
The sounds of goblins, lots of unfamiliar faces and smells, and scary costumes can be a real nightmare for some animals. Dogs and cats who get anxious or territorial around strangers and loud noises should be placed somewhere safe in the house and skip the trick-or-treating. And when opening the front door for children, be sure your pet can’t escape. Depending on your pet, we recommend crating or trying our Shields® Pet Gate Solution, which protects your pets form entering or leaving certain areas of your home. This Invisible Boundary® Protection was specifically designed with doorways in mind, so dogs can’t jump on people or dart out the door.