Friday, October 24, 2014

Halloween Safety Tips for Cats

I've seen a few of these posts around the blogosphere, but the topic is so important that I thought it warranted a post from us as well.  Please keep these safety tips in mind as you celebrate Halloween in the coming days.

Candy Is For Humans Only: I'm sure many of you know that chocolate is very toxic to cats and dogs, especially baking and dark chocolate.  However, any candy containing the xylitol, an artificial sweetener, is also toxic to pets.  Moreover, candy and its wrappers pose a choking hazard to your kitty.

If you want to give your cat a yummy treat for Halloween, purchase his or her favorite kitty treats or try a new brand of cat treats.  Keep all candy out of your pet's reach.

Keep Cats Indoors: It's unfortunate, but not all people love kitties as much as we do.  To keep your kitty (no matter what his or her fur color is) from becoming an unwilling participant in Halloween mischief, keep him or her indoors.  Black cats are especially prone to going missing on Halloween.

If you are giving out candy to trick-or-treaters, it's a good idea to keep nervous kitties in a safe room in your home with the door shut to prevent them from escaping accidentally.  Even the most social kitties can become overwhelmed by all the trick-or-treaters visiting your home; keep an eye on your feline any time you open the door.  Keep collars and identification on your cat so that if your kitty accidentally escapes, you will have a better chance of finding him or her.

Halloween Costumes: Please do not put your kitty in a Halloween costume unless you know he or she loves it!  I haven't personally met any cats that would even tolerate being dressed up, let alone love it, but I'm sure there are a few out there.  Dressing up a cat who doesn't love being in costume causes him or her unnecessary stress.  An unhappy cat in costume may even hurt himself or herself trying to get out of it.

If you want your kitty to look festive for Halloween, you could try putting a decorative bandanna or bow-tie on his or her collar.  Mom Emily from Kitty Cat Chronicles makes some really adorable bow-ties that slip right over your cat's collar.  Carmine really loves his!

If you have one of the rare kitties who enjoys being dressed up, ensure that your cat's Halloween costume does not constrict his or her movement in any way.  Be sure your cat can see, hear, breathe, and meow without any difficulty in the costume you choose.  Try on the Halloween costume before the big night to ensure your cat is not distressed by it at all.  Be sure to make sure there are no small parts on the costume your feline could tare off and swallow as well.

Halloween Decorations: As you know, there are a variety of festive household Halloween decorations.  Please keep your kitty safe by using electrical cord covers on electronic decorations.  Cats can suffer cuts, severe burns, and/or life-threatening electrical shocks when they chew on electrical cords.  If electrical cord covers aren't an option for you, you can purchase some Bitter Apple to sprays cords with.  For added protection, unplug electronic decorations whenever you won't be around to keep an eye on your kitty.

Jack-o-lanterns also pose a danger to cats.  Jack-o-lanterns can be easily knocked over and start fires.  Curious kitties can also singe or burn themselves with flames, so it's best to keep all jack-o-lanterns out of your cat's reach.

We hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween next week!

Do you have any other safety tips to add?  Please let us know in the comments. 

8 comments:

  1. That was a great post! We will be quite safe during Halloween, but we sure worry about our ferals!

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  2. Good thing my humans don't do anything for the holidays... they are too worried about us kittys!

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  3. We too are not at all sad that we do not 'do' much fur this day...
    Its good advice, though!
    MIAOW!

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  4. We are lucky that the humans here don't do Halloween, so we get very little of any of these around here! Maybe some costume wearing, but that is about it.

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  5. Great reminders! I haven't dressed a cat up in a very long time, but it's something I used to do with my childhood cats lol... I don't think they enjoyed it that much, but they were very patient and good kitties. And they got to eat some cat food from my tea set for a tea party so I don't think they minded too much.

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  6. We don't celebrate Halloween here, but that's a very good post and great reminders for everyone who celebrates ! Purrs

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  7. Wonderful advice! Truffles gets dressed up just for a quick picture and that's it...then gets treats for a reward :)

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  8. Great reminders! A few of mine don't mind dressing up. http://15andmeowing.com

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