Halloween Safety Tips and Tricks

With Halloween only just around the corner, we have had a few requests for our best tips on safety for pets of all breeds, cat and dog. Halloween can be both a very fun and spooky night of the year for both humans and their fur-babies. We recommend you follow the below steps to ensure the whole family has a happy night.

1. Lollies and Chocolate for Humans Only!
   Keep the sweet treats for your trick-or-treaters only, and keep out of reach of pets. They can be sneaky, so make sure your pets have no access. Several popular Halloween lollies can be toxic for pets. Chocolate in all forms can be extremely dangerous for cats and dogs, and sugar-free lollies containing xylitol can cause serious problems in pets.If you suspect your pet has ingested anything toxic please call your local veterinarian or Animals Poison Hotline on 1300 869 738 (opening hours 9am till 7pm, excl. public holidays). 
2. Minimise anxiety and stress
   Halloween brings quite a number of trick-or-treaters to your door. This can be quite upsetting and distressing to your pets to see or hear so many strangers. If your not pet is not the most social, we recommend keeping them away from the front door, in a separate room or area. 

   Know the signs of stress in your pet, and if they start demonstrating any of them it probably means they should have some time away from all the noise and action.
   

3. Up-to-date Pet ID  
   As we all known, pets can be very fast, especially if they are scared or stressed. While opening the front door to those trick-or-treaters, try to ensure your fur-baby doesn’t dart out the front door.Please ensure your pet’s ID tag and microchip details are all up-to-date, as it can be a game-changer with lost pets.
4. Caution is needed with costumes
   As much as our pets look absolutely adorable in costumes, we need to make sure they are comfortable in it and not stressed at all. We recommend you do not put your pet in a costume, unless they absolutely love it. Let your pet try on the costume before the big night, to see whether or not it fits correctly and they seem comfortable in it.If you do dress your pet up for Halloween, you need to make sure it does not limit their movement, sight, or ability to breathe. Make sure there are no small, loose, dangly, or easily-chewed off components to the costume, as these can become a choking and/or suffocation hazard.

   If your pet absolutely hates their costume, we recommend letting them wear their “birthday suit” or a halloween-themed bandana.

5. Keep the decorations pet-friendly
   Animals are absolutely attracted to carved jack-o-lanterns (especially lit ones), but they can be a huge fire risk. Pets can easily knock them over and start a fire, and cats are prone to getting too close and burning themselves.In addition, cobwebs are a popular decoration and make everything look super spooky, however they can pose as a potential choking/suffocation hazard. So, make sure they are out of reach of your pets.
6. Dark-coloured pets are accident-prone
   On Halloween, they are a large volume of people outside, especially after-dark, and dark or black pets are prone to being run over when it is not easy to see them. So, if you have an outdoor dark-coloured pet, don’t take any risks and keep them indoors this Halloween.Shop now at www.pawfectchoice.com.au to get some appropriate treats for your cat and dog. We have 20% all stock until 12am AEDT 31.10.21, to ensure your pets don’t miss out on treats this spooky season.