Halloween Safety for Pets

It is scary how quickly Halloween is approaching and with this fun holiday just around the corner, it is important to understand how to keep your pet safe and healthy during the festivities. As we are pet lovers ourselves, here at 4Paws Insurance we want to help protect your pets from illnesses and injuries by educating you on all the risks that go along with this Halloween season. According to the pet poison hotline; health incidents increase by 12% during this time of year, all due to Halloween. In fact, some of the most common safety and health hazards for pets during Halloween are chocolate, costumes, decorations, and candy wrappers.

Chocolate
As many of you probably already know, chocolate is extremely toxic to pets. Although many pets may be attracted to chocolate because of its aroma, it is important to make sure they do not ingest this Halloween treat. Although, the type of chocolate can dictate how dangerous it is to pets, all chocolate can cause dogs to get sick, so take extra care to store it far out of reach from your furry friends. When it comes to trick or treating, you may want to leave candy out for trick or treaters, but it is much safer to store it in a safe spot and directly hand it to any visitors to avoid it being eaten by your pets.

Costumes
Although it may be fun and cute to dress up your cat or dog in a costume, take caution if you decide to participate in this Halloween tradition. Even though some pets may not mind wearing a costume, it may cause others to feel stressed. It is important to identify if your pet is stressed out while wearing a costume and consider opting for a festive alternative to a costume, such as a themed collar or bandana, if you sense they do not like being dressed up.

Decorations
Planning to decorate your home with some festive hand carved pumpkins? If so, you should first consider how this would affect your pets. Although, pumpkins may not be poisonous to pets, if ingested, it may make them feel sick. Also, if a pumpkin lit with a real candle is knocked over by a pet, this could easily start a fire or burn your pet. To avoid this from happening keep your pumpkins elevated and out of reach from pets or, better yet, use a battery-operated pumpkin light to bring your jack-o-lantern to life. Not only will it look great, but it will keep you are your pets much safer than a traditional candle.

Candy Wrappers
In the event you decide to indulge in some Halloween treats or have little ones bringing home a bag of goodies after trick or treating, be mindful of wrappers. Wrappers can be toxic to pets or even cause them to choke, so when consuming Halloween candy make sure you and your family directly deposit any wrappers into the trash immediately to keep them away from pets and ensure they stay safe.

Halloween can be such a fun holiday complete with jack-o-lanterns, costumes, trick or treating, and haunted houses. But, if you have any 4-legged friends in your home you need to take care as this holiday causes more calls to the pet poison hotline than any other, and it is easy to see why. With all the Halloween treats, costumes, decorations, and wrappers, there are many risks that could affect your pet’s health. In addition to providing top quality coverage, here at 4Paws, we want to ensure your pets remain happy and healthy so they can enjoy a truly spook-tacular Howl-o-ween!