As the scariest and most fun night of the year approaches, pet owners should take precautions to keep their animals safe while celebrating.  Follow these simple safety measures so you can keep your pets calm, healthy, and safe this Halloween.

1. Keep Fido at home:  Your pets will not enjoy Trick-or-Treat the way kids will. Strange costumes, flashing lights and loud noises can scare dogs and cats and cause anxiety. Leave your pets at home. If celebrating at home, give your cats and dogs an isolated and peaceful place to relax, such as a bedroom without windows or a bathroom away from partygoers.
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2. Stash the sweets out of reach: Many of the sweet treats we enjoy are toxic to our pets. Candies, including chocolate and those containing xylitol (an artificial sweetener), can cause heart attacks, seizures, internal bleeding, muscle tremors or an irregular heartbeat. The smallest amount of xylitol can cause liver damage, low blood sugar, seizures or death in animals.
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3. Decorate with safety in mind: Halloween decorations make the holiday fun and enjoyable, but they can also harm pets. Confetti, glitter, ribbons and beads are choking hazards for puppies and kittens. Place holiday décor safely out of the reach of animals and quickly remove the décor at the end of the night.
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4. Check costumes: Should you dress up your pet in a Halloween costume, ensure it does not have dangling parts your pet could chew and swallow. Bits of Halloween costumes could become caught in your pet's throat or rupture in his or her stomach. Also, ensure parts of children’s costumes do not fall off in reach of pets.
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5. Mind the flames: Candelabras, candles and jack-o-lanterns make the holiday extra enjoyable for humans, but can be dangerous to pets. Keep pets away from the flames to prevent burns. Take extra precautions with jack-o-lanterns and candles as animals can knock them over and cause harm to themselves and others. If you are celebrating Halloween at home, monitor your pets around fire pits and grills.
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6. Secure loose wires: Many holiday decorations contain electrical wires. Keep pets away from these wires as they can electrocute your dog or cat or cause house fires.
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7. Put on proper identification: Should your pet go missing during Halloween, proper and accurate identification is essential to relocate your animal. Make sure your dogs and cats are wearing a tag with their names, your name and your phone number. Make sure this information is up-to-date, and ensure your pet is microchipped in case the collar falls off.

Enjoy your quality time with your entire family, including the furry family members!

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