The Hazards of Halloween by Jennifer Houston

It’s almost that time of the year again: cool nights, warm days, and the spooky sights and sounds of Halloween. For us it’s a fun, exciting, and spooky night; but for our pets it can be scary, dangerous or even life-threatening. There are a lot of hazards for our pets, starting with the primary one which of course belongs to our most favorite part:  the candy. We will go through some of the hazards in the following paragraphs.

Chocolate is the first one that will come to most people’s minds when you are talking about the hazards of Halloween. Nowadays there are a lot more different kinds of chocolate that are on the market. You have your standard milk chocolate that usually doesn’t cause too much of a problem depending on how much they ate and the size of your pet. You also have the dark chocolates which contain a higher level of methylxanthines (Theobromine and Caffeine) but all chocolate has some quantity of these. Semi-sweet chocolate is in the middle, baking chocolate has the highest content, and white chocolate is at the bottom with the lowest levels. The symptoms that you would see in your pet if they ingested too much chocolate are vomiting, diarrhea, panting, excessive thirst and urination, hyperactivity, abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, seizures, and even death.

Raisins/grapes and nuts are also a concern. We have all seen the cute little boxes of raisins and I am sure you can remember getting these as a child in your Halloween bag. However for our pets these are not a healthy treat. Although the toxic substance in the raisins/grapes is unknown, they can cause kidney failure. Macadamia nuts are another item that we do not fully understand the mechanism that causes the symptoms that you might see in your pet which are weakness, depression, vomiting, tremors, and a fever. Usually, these signs will appear within 12 hours of ingestion. Good news is that with some nursing care to make the pet comfortable they recover in about 2 days.

Xylitol is a sweetener that is used in a lot of products like gum, candy, baked goods, toothpaste, and medications. However for our dogs it is highly toxic. It causes insulin to be released in the body that leads to lower blood sugar levels that can lead to liver failure and possibly death. Signs include vomiting, lethargy and a loss of coordination. They can further lead to seizures.

Last one would be coins. As a child myself I would receive a small bag of coins, like pennies, from a house or two along my route of trick or treating. Pennies that were minted after and some in 1982 have Zinc in them which is toxic to pets. Zinc toxicity symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia, and depression. If left untreated, severe signs will begin to appear and can lead to death.

I know what you are thinking, that all of this seems very scary and overwhelming, especially where we all love our pets and want them to be safe, happy and to have long lives. The idea here is not to scare you but to inform you on things to watch for during this holiday so everyone will be safe. Every question is an important one so if at any time you think that your pet may have ingested anything, even something not on this list, contact your regular veterinarian or a veterinary emergency hospital right away.