Halloween Safety Tips for Your Pets

Halloween can be potentially dangerous for our four-legged friends. The veterinarians at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine offer the following safety tips:

All but the most outgoing dogs and cats should be kept in a separate room during peak trick-or-treat hours. Loud strangers in unusual costumes can be scary and stressful for pets.

When opening the door for trick-or-treaters, make sure your cat or dog doesn't dart out. All your pets should be wearing current identification, just in case.

Keep all Halloween candy out of your pet's reach. Chocolate can be toxic to animals -- even in small amounts -- and foil and cellophane candy wrappers can be hazardous or deadly if swallowed.

Do not place lit pumpkins or candles where your animals can reach them. Pets can knock them over, running the risk of getting burned.

Do not leave your pet in the yard on Halloween night or on the night before Halloween (sometimes called "Mischief Night"). Occasionally, vicious pranksters tease, harm, steal and even kill pets on this night.

It is especially important to keep your cat inside for several days before and after Halloween. Black cats in particular may be a target of pranks or other cruel acts.

Don't dress your dogs or cats in costumes unless you know they enjoy it. If you decide to do so, make sure the costume isn't dangerous and doesn't restrict the animal's movement, sight, hearing or ability to breathe or bark. Avoid costumes with small or dangling accessories that could be chewed off and cause choking. Make sure an adult supervises pets in costume at all times.

Follow these safety guidelines to have a wonderful Halloween with your pets!

The Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital at Penn is one of the busiest veterinary teaching hospitals in the country, seeing more than 31,000 small animal patient visits a year. Of those visits, approximately 13,000 are in our emergency service, which is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and is staffed by emergency medicine clinicians and emergency/critical care specialists, as well as nursing specialists in emergency/critical care, augmented by on call specialists. In an emergency, please call (215.746.8911). The Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital is located on the University of Pennsylvania campus in West Philadelphia at 39th and Spruce Streets.