Important Tips from Penn Vet to Keep Pets Safe on Halloween

[Philadelphia, PA] – Dr. Kenneth Drobatz, Chief of the Emergency Service at Penn Vet’s Ryan Hospital, offers the following tips to keep pets healthy and out of the emergency room this Halloween:

• Keep Halloween candy out of your pet’s reach. Chocolate and other treats can be potentially harmful to animals. Tinfoil and cellophane candy wrappers can also be hazardous if swallowed.
• Don’t put costumes on your pets unless you know they enjoy it. If they do, make sure the costume doesn’t restrict your pet’s movement, vision, hearing or ability to breathe or bark. Adults should supervise pets in costume at all times.
• Keep pets away from lit pumpkins. Curious pets could be burned or start a fire if they knock the pumpkin over.
• Keep pets inside on Halloween to avoid pranksters who may harm them. This is especially important for cats, which should be kept inside for several days before and after Halloween. Black cats in particular may be at risk.
• Children in costumes may frighten your dog or cat. Pets should be kept in a separate room during peak trick-or-treating hours.

If your pet is very social and you choose not to put him/her in a separate room,be sure your pet doesn’t dart out when you open the door. Just in case, make sure your pets are wearing current identification.

Penn Vet is a global leader in veterinary medicine education, research, and clinical care. Founded in 1884, Penn Vet is the only veterinary school developed in association with a medical school. The school is a proud member of the One Health Initiative, linking human, animal, and environmental health.

Penn Vet serves a diverse population of animals at its two campuses, which include extensive diagnostic and research laboratories. Ryan Hospital in Philadelphia provides care for dogs, cats, and other domestic/companion animals, seeing nearly 33,000 patients a year. New Bolton Center, Penn Vet’s large-animal hospital on nearly 700 acres in rural Kennett Square, PA, cares for horses and livestock/farm animals, treating 33,000 patients each year – 4,100 in the hospital and 29,000 at farms through the Field Service. In addition, New Bolton Center’s campus includes a swine center, working dairy, and poultry unit that provide valuable research for the agriculture industry.

For more information, visit www.vet.upenn.edu.

Short URL: http://caninechronicle.com/?p=36544

Posted by chesliepickett on Oct 21 2013. Filed under The Buzz. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.