Ten minutes into trick-or-treating, your cat finds the glow bracelet that slipped off your kid's wrist, bites it, and instantly becomes the most convincing decoration on the block. She's drooling like a radioactive Pavlovian Dracula. Meanwhile, out on the porch, the jack-o'-lantern you carved nine days ago is slowly melting into a puddle of its own fuzzy mold. The cat is putting on the better show, but the pumpkin is the thing that really freaks us out.
That's the thing about Halloween pet safety: the seemingly scary stuff is the ghosts, the ghouls, and the insidious cackles of those high-flying broomstick bombardiers. Most of it can't hurt your pet. What actually brings pets in are the overlooked items – like the sugar-free gum nestled between two Kit-Kat bars and the doorbell ringing for the fortieth time this hour.
Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, and we're open that night. If something happens, call us at (970) 851-8751, send our intake form, or come to our Fort Collins clinic.
My Dog Ate Halloween Candy. Now What?
If your dog got into the Halloween candy, figure out what kind it was and give us a call. The candies we worry about most are chocolate (especially dark or baking chocolate), anything sugar-free that might contain xylitol (a sweetener in a lot of sugar-free gum and candy), and anything with raisins. Call about any of those even if your dog seems completely fine. Xylitol is mainly a problem for dogs, and it can drop their blood sugar quickly.
We went through how much is too much (and which number to call first) in our guide to the most common pet toxins. Whoever you call, it helps to have the bag, the wrappers, and a rough idea of your dog's weight in front of you. To figure out how much is missing, dump out what's left and round up every wrapper you can find, including the ones that ended up under the couch. If there's a kid in the house who already sorted the haul by type (there's usually one), they probably know exactly what's gone. A rough count is fine, so don't hold off on calling while you reconstruct the whole bag.
If the wrapper is inside your animal, it's probably worth getting checked out – poison control often asks us to take a look with x-ray images and assess the risk of an obstruction. Lollipop sticks can cause a blockage, as can other swallowed objects. Once trick-or-treating is over, store the candy in a pantry or closet with the door closed rather than on the counter, coffee table, or in bed with you.
Can Moldy Pumpkins Make Dogs Sick?
Yes. Once a carved pumpkin goes soft and starts to mold, it can grow “tremorgenic mycotoxins,” which are toxins from certain molds that can cause tremors and seizures in dogs. Moldy food in the trash or the compost pile can do the same thing.
We've absolutely seen it – and in our experience these dogs tend to become a little overheated but overall can do well. There are of course risks that they can take a sudden turn for the worse, but often much of that is avoided with some medications and some IV fluids. So if your dog ate moldy pumpkin, call us even if they seem fine.
Fresh pumpkin is less of a worry. A dog who eats a lot of it may end up with an upset stomach, and big chunks of the stem or rind can cause a blockage. Once your jack-o'-lantern starts to emulate your favorite Dali painting, move it to a trash can with a lid instead of the compost pile.
What to Do if Your Cat Bites a Glow Stick
If your cat bites a glow stick, offer a little treat or a sip of milk to help get rid of the taste. Most glow sticks and glow jewelry are labeled non-toxic, but the liquid inside is extremely bitter. Cats seem to love batting glow sticks around right up until they bite one. After that they tend to drool heavily and race around the house, which usually looks a lot worse than it is. If the drooling or the odd behavior doesn't settle down after the treat, give us a call.
What if My Dog Chews a Battery?
If your dog chewed into a light-up collar, costume, or decoration, call ASPCA Animal Poison Control first, then come see us right away. You'd be surprised how many types of batteries there are in this world – and not all of them are treated the same. Some are "let's induce vomiting," others are "let's see what happens," and others still are "it's time to rush to surgery." Poison control knows which is which, so we always defer to them on this one.
Keep the decoration or the battery package with you when you call, since the battery type is one of the first things they'll ask about. And please don't try to make your dog vomit at home; some batteries can do more damage on the way back up.
Alcohol and Edibles at Halloween Parties
If you're hosting a Halloween party, the drinks and any edibles are the things to keep out of your pet's reach. Dogs and cats are a lot more sensitive to alcohol than we are. Even a small amount can make them wobbly and nauseous, and larger amounts can drop their blood sugar and body temperature. A cup of punch on the coffee table or a half-finished drink on the floor next to the couch is right at dog height.
Also, edibles can look a lot like regular Halloween candy, so keep them well away from the candy bowl. If your pet gets into either one, tell us what it was and roughly how much. The no-judgment policy from our toxin guide applies here too.
Are Pet Costumes Safe?
Pet costumes are welcome – just nothing too loose or too constricting, especially things that go around the neck. Lacerations and even strangulations have been known to occur with poor-fitting costumes.
Before forcing your dog to endure a photo shoot, check that you can slide a couple of fingers under every strap, that nothing covers your pet's eyes or ears, and that nothing drags on the floor. Bells, buttons, and sequins can be chewed off and swallowed, so stay close while the costume is on. Some pets just don't like being dressed up. If yours freezes, tucks their tail, licks their lips, or keeps trying to back out of the costume, take it off and let them sit this one out.
Why Halloween Can Be Harder on Anxious Pets Than the Fourth of July
Fireworks get a bad rap. Yes, fireworks can be extremely distressing for a dog or cat – but at least they only last for maybe 20 minutes. Halloween is a low-grade ding-dong warzone that lasts hours. If your pet gets stressed during thunderstorms, it's probably a good idea to have some strategies in place to reduce stress on All Hallows' Eve.
A quiet room toward the back of the house with their bed, some water, and a fan or white noise running helps a lot of pets. Some families skip the doorbell entirely by sitting outside with the candy bowl. If your pet's anxiety is severe, talk with your primary veterinarian ahead of time about whether a situational anti-anxiety medication makes sense.
Don't forget cats with urinary issues (how could you?). Stress can trigger feline idiopathic cystitis, or FIC (inflammation of the bladder without a clear cause), which can mean frequent trips to the litter box that produce very little urine, sometimes with blood in it. In male cats, FIC can lead to a urinary blockage. A male cat who is straining and not producing urine needs to be seen right away.
All that door opening is also an easy way out. Keep cats closed in a room for the evening, and make sure ID tags and microchip registrations are current. If your dog joins the trick-or-treating, keep them on a leash with a reflective collar or a light. Costumes can throw off even easygoing dogs; a dog who has known the neighbor kid for years has never met that kid as a seven-foot inflatable dinosaur, so give your dog some room when trick-or-treaters come up the walk.
When to Call an Emergency Vet on Halloween Night
On Halloween night, call us right away if your pet has tremors, is stumbling, vomits more than once, drools nonstop, has pale gums, or has trouble breathing. Many Halloween dangers for dogs and cats don't cause symptoms right away, so call even if your pet seems completely fine after eating any of these:
- Chocolate, especially dark or baking chocolate
- Anything sugar-free that might contain xylitol (dogs)
- Raisins, including the chocolate-covered kind
- A chewed or missing battery (call poison control first)
- Moldy pumpkin or other moldy food
- A wrapper, a lollipop stick, or a piece of a costume
We're open Halloween night, and we will be open to hospitalize anything that needs to be monitored overnight (looking at you, raisin and chocolate ingestion dogs!). A Halloween visit starts like any other outpatient emergency visit. We make sure your pet is stable, examine them, and talk with you about what happened and what the options are. Many pets go home the same night.
If something comes up after we've closed for the night, start with ASPCA Poison Control; they can help you decide if your pet should go to a 24-hour hospital. If your pet collapses, struggles to breathe, or has a seizure, don't wait on a phone call. Those are among the 10 signs that can't wait, and your pet should be seen at the closest open emergency hospital right away.
Halloween Pet Safety After the Trick-or-Treaters Go Home
A lot of Halloween pet safety happens in the week or two after Halloween, when the leftover candy is still in the house and the jack-o'-lantern is still on the porch, slowly going soft. Keep the candy put away until it's gone, and move the pumpkin to the trash once it starts to slump. Since every pet is different, call and ask if you're not sure whether something your pet got into is a problem.
If your pet gets into something on Halloween night, or a week later when the leftover candy finally gets raided, call us at (970) 851-8751, send our intake form, or come to our Fort Collins clinic during open hours.
