Keeping Your Pets Safe and Stress-free at Halloween

Halloween can be a fun and spooky time for humans, but it can stress out the furballs in your life.

T-Rex costume – funny to us, maybe scary to your pets.

Worse, it can be dangerous for them, which can make it dangerous for you, as well. Knowing the potential out-in-the-real-world dangers as well as those in-home that can help you have a safe and enjoyable Halloween.

If you have a dog who is afraid of things she’s never seen before, blow-up decorations in yards can be very scary for your dog. Be on the alert that a blow-up decoration that sways around unpredictably doesn’t spook your dog, which could then possibly get away from you or trip you in her efforts to get away from the strange thing.

The fake spider webbing material can also be dangerous, as animals can get caught in it.

One of the reasons kids like Halloween so much is all that candy. But your dog and cat do not need to eat any candy, for a number of reasons. If you have real questions about candy and your pet, check with your vet or the poison control center. Otherwise, just trust me on this. They don’t need to eat your candy, and doing so can actually be highly dangerous for them. Dogs who have ingested chocolate have died. If you have Halloween candy to hand out to trick or treaters, please be sure to keep the candy safe from your pets. And if you snack on a sweet or two, be sure not to leave the wrappers in a place where your pet might find them, investigate them, lick them, and then choke on them.

Finally, having trick or treaters on sugar highs wearing weird things incessantly ringing your door bell and shouting things when you open the door can stress out your animals. Especially if you rarely have guests or your pets are afraid of strangers, children, or people wearing unusual outfits. You might be in for a night of a lot of barking, or possibly a door dash situation.

If your pet is not likely to enjoy the typical festivities of Halloween evening, consider removing the pet from the stress zone by closing the pet in a back room, using crates or baby gates, or boarding them. You could keep your pets inside while you position yourself on the porch to interact with trick or treaters, or you could put candy at the sidewalk and keep trick or treaters from actually coming to your door.

You can also discuss with your vet the possibility of medication for your pet’s occasional anxiety for things like Halloween.

Just being mindful of the potential dangers of Halloween can mean the difference between a fun and spooky holiday and a really scary one. Happy Halloween!