🎃 Halloween Safety Tips for Pets
Halloween is a treat for people — but it can be a tricky time for pets! Here are a few important ways to keep your furry friends safe and stress-free this spooky season.
Halloween is a treat for people — but it can be a tricky time for pets.
This year Halloween lands on a Saturday, which usually means a longer evening, more doorbell traffic, and more chances for a curious nose to find something it shouldn't. Downtown Morgantown also hosts its Trick-or-Treat on Thursday, October 29, from 5–7 p.m. on High Street, so the busy stretch starts earlier in the week.
Here's how to keep everyone safe and stress-free.
🍫 Keep candy out of paws' reach
Chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine, which can cause vomiting, tremors, or heart problems in dogs and cats. Darker chocolate is more dangerous, and dogs don't have an "off button" — a whole bag is a real possibility.
Sugar-free candy and gum often contain xylitol, which is extremely toxic to dogs even in small amounts. Watch for it under its other label names: the FDA notes xylitol may also appear as birch sugar or wood sugar. If you're scanning ingredients for "xylitol" alone, you may miss it.
Wrappers and foil matter too. Sometimes the packaging causes more trouble than the candy, and a blockage can send a pet to surgery days later.
Keep candy bowls and loot bags up high, and remind kids not to share.
🌿 A newer risk: edibles
Halloween is one night when candy and cannabis products can end up in the same bowl. Recreational drugs, including marijuana, now appear on ASPCA Poison Control's annual top-ten list of pet toxins. If your pet gets into an edible, please tell us or the poison control center exactly what and how much — we're not interested in anything beyond treating your pet, and knowing the dose changes how we treat.
🐾 Choose costumes carefully
Some pets enjoy dressing up; others find it stressful. Make sure the costume allows free movement, normal breathing, and clear vision, and check that nothing has small parts that could be chewed off. Never leave a costumed pet unattended. If your pet freezes, tucks their tail, or tries to back out of it — that's a no, and a festive bandana works just as well.
👻 Create a calm space — and plan ahead if your pet needs help
The doorbell, strange silhouettes, and glowing decorations can be a lot. Set up a quiet room away from the front door with soft music, a favorite toy, and something to chew.
If your pet truly struggles with visitors, call us the week before Halloween, not the day of. Situational anxiety medication works best when we've had a chance to try a dose ahead of time and adjust it. A same-day request on October 31 rarely gives us that option.
✨ Glow sticks and glow jewelry
These are everywhere on trick-or-treat night, and cats in particular love to bite them. The good news: this is usually not an emergency. Pet Poison Helpline notes the liquid inside is dibutyl phthalate, which tastes terrible but is rarely deadly, and that most exposures can be managed at home. Offer (don't force) chicken broth or canned tuna in water to clear the taste, wipe up any remaining liquid so your pet doesn't groom it off their fur, and call us if you see eye redness, squinting, continued drooling, or your pet won't eat.
If in doubt, call one of the Poison Control hotlines (and try to have the packaging on hand) or head to an emergency facility if we are closed.
🐈⬛ About black cats
You may have heard that black cats are at special risk around Halloween. It's a myth, and a persistent one. The University of Florida's Shelter Medicine Program notes there's no evidence Halloween adoptions are dangerous, and that the ASPCA and the Humane Society of the United States both recommend against suspending black cat adoptions. Best Friends Animal Society puts it plainly: no evidence that adopting a black cat around Halloween poses any greater risk than at any other time of year.
So if you've been thinking about a black cat — do it. They wait longest in shelters, and they make wonderful patients.
That said, do keep cats (and dogs!) indoors on Halloween night — not because of folklore, but because of open doors, extra traffic, strangers on the sidewalk, and noise.
🕯️ Watch decorations and wires
Candles, lit pumpkins, and string lights are all hazards. Curious pets knock over candles and chew cords. Battery-powered options solve most of this.
🚪 Be ready at the door
If your pet is likely to bolt when the door opens, use a leash, a baby gate, or a closed room. Check that collars and ID tags are current — and take two minutes now to confirm your microchip registration has your correct phone number. A chip only works if the contact information behind it is right.
📞 If something happens
Call Animal Medical Center first at 304-292-0126 during our regular hours. We'd much rather talk you through a "probably fine" than have you wait and worry.
Don't induce vomiting at home without talking to a veterinarian or poison control first. Pet Poison Helpline is explicit about this — the wrong choice can make things worse.
Animal poison control (24 hours):
ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center — (888) 426-4435. A consultation fee may apply.
Pet Poison Helpline — (855) 764-7661. An $89 per-incident fee covers all follow-up consultations, including calls with your veterinarian.
After hours, when we're closed:
NCWV Veterinary Emergency Clinic, 131 Bunners Ridge Rd, Ste 2, Fairmont — 304-363-2227. Open Saturday at 1 p.m. through Monday morning, so they are open all Halloween night. Closest option, roughly 25 minutes.
AVETS, 2674 Monroeville Blvd, Monroeville, PA — (412) 373-4200. Open 24/7, with board-certified emergency and critical care specialists.
BluePearl Pittsburgh North, 807 Camp Horne Rd, Pittsburgh, PA — (412) 366-3400. Open 24/7. Call ahead; their ER is often at high volume.
For a serious or complicated emergency — and if travel time allows — the Pittsburgh hospitals offer the deepest level of critical care in the region. Call ahead either way so they're ready for you.
🎁 Stop by for a Halloween treat!
We'll be handing out Halloween-themed pet toys to visitors at Animal Medical Center from Monday, October 26 through Halloween (while supplies last). No tricks, just treats.
Wishing you and your pets a safe, happy, and treat-filled Halloween from all of us at Animal Medical Center! 🐶🐱💙
Updated September 25, 2026
