Keep your pets safe this Halloween with some of our useful tips:
- Keep your pets away from the door to prevent them escaping or becoming scared. On Halloween night your door will be opened frequently and you will be greeted by strangers dressed up, this maybe distressing for your pet and may risk in them trying to escape the house. Putting your cat or dog in another room or in a crate away from the front door will help to reduce stress and prevent fear and aggression.
- Don’t leave your pet outdoors on Halloween night, as well as the possibility of fireworks unfortunately some people may carry out silly pranks putting your pets at risk.
- Make sure that you keep any Halloween treats away from your pets; this includes sweets, foods with sweeteners and chocolates just stick to pet treats please. Chocolates and sweets are extremely toxic especially to dogs and can be fatal. Signs to look out for include vomiting, diarrhoea and increased heart rate. Always call your local vets straight away.
- A central part of the Halloween celebrations is pumpkins. If ingested especially when mouldy can cause gastrointestinal problems and sometimes even neurological ones. Other risks with pumpkins include potential blockages; if a large piece gets eaten by your pet it is possible that it could become stuck and cause more problems.
- If you are having pumpkins with lights in, please make sure these are kept outside and away from your pet. If you have a lit up pumpkin around your pet you run the risk of them getting burnt, not to mention knocking it over and causing a fire.
- Some pets love dressing up which is all good news, however if you know your pet doesn’t like it, then please don’t cause them added stress by trying to dress them up.
