Is your dog your boo? If so, the pet health experts at Trupanion have some tricks and treats to ensure your Halloween doesn’t involve a scary visit to the vet.
As a leader in medical insurance for cats and dogs, Trupanion scanned its database of nearly one million pets and found that historically there is a noticeable increase in chocolate toxicity claims now through the end of the year. In some years, toxicity claims have spiked more than 70% at Halloween.
Given that spooky fact, Trupanion staff veterinarian Sarah Nold, D.V.M. offers five tips to make sure your pets have a howlin’ Halloween this year:
- Keep your pets away from chocolate, raisins and Xylitol — Chocolate contains a naturally occurring stimulant called theobromine, which is similar to caffeine. If enough theobromine is ingested, it can be toxic to dogs and cats. Pet parents should also keep treats containing the sugar substitute Xylitol away from their pets. Xylitol causes very low blood sugar, which can result in weakness, collapse and seizures.
- Consider the costume — Your pet may be too cute to spook, but costumes aren’t for every pet. If you do dress up your pups, Nold said, make sure the costumes are comfortable and don’t have any loose pieces they may try to swallow.
- Beware the glow of the jack-o’-lantern – Candles may bring an extra glow to that jack-o’-lantern, but they shouldn’t be in reach of your dogs and cats. Flames can easily find wagging tails and curious noses.
- Trick or treat without any fright — The added commotion and noise on Halloween can be stressful to family pets. All but the most social dogs and cats should be kept in a separate room away from the front door during peak trick-or-treating hours.
- Don’t get ghosted by your pet — Never leave your pets unsupervised. In any event, they should be wearing a reflective collar with proper identification in case they dart outside and get lost.
Trupanion also shared some of the top Halloween-inspired pet names haunting its database. They include Casper, Spooky, Zombie, Hannibal, Frankenstein, Chucky and Goblin.
