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Health & Fitness

Adopt a Friend - Halloween Tips

Halloween is just around the corner and here are some great ideas on how you and your pet can enjoy the holiday together.

TIP OF THE WEEK


The following Tips are compliments of Home Again.  I hope you and your pet enjoy Halloween but please be careful, take care of your pet and please consider micro chipping your pet to increase the change of being reunited in the unfortunate event that your pet goes missing.

Dress Your Pet for Halloween

What will your dog or cat be wearing this year? Find fashion inspiration for sweet, silly, and even stylish costumes for four-footed friends.

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Halloween has become one of America’s favorite holidays, and pets are increasingly in on the fun. While not everyone chooses to dress up their cat or dog for the occasion, those who do get to connect with the wide community of pet lovers. If you’re planning to participate in a pet parade, enter your pal in a best-dressed animal contest, or even go trick-or-treating with a four-footed friend, it’s not too early to start thinking about a great costume for your pet.

Haven’t yet decided what yours will wear? Homemade costumes can be the best and most creative, as well as the most affordable. Pay a visit to a fabrics-and-notions store to find inspiration. Also search online for "dog (or cat) Halloween costumes." Note that most commercially-available costumes are cheaply made, but they do offer busy pet parents (and those who aren’t handy) convenience.

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Outfits to Avoid

Although cleverness and cuteness are key for Halloween pet costumes, safety should be paramount. Pick an outfit that gives your pet a full range of motion and doesn’t endanger him in any way, and also keep pets away from decorations they might be tempted to chew or eat. On the list of no-no’s:

  • Unsafe body paint
  • Full-face masks
  • Fake eyelashes or anything that touches the eyes
  • Anything that constricts a pet’s movement, circulation, or breathing
  • Material that can trap a pet

Great Costumes for Dogs and Cats

Ideas and themes to get your creative juices flowing:

A New Identity

Costumes can transform your dog (the majority of pet costumes are for dogs, not cats) into another species entirely. Let your imagination run wild and consider costuming your canine as a:

  • Bat
  • Bear
  • Bee
  • Butterfly
  • Caterpillar
  • Cow
  • Duck
  • Lobster
  • Mermaid
  • Peacock
  • Shark

Little People

Some of us consider our pets as people, and Halloween gives us the opportunity to dress them as such. Consider dressing yours as a:

  • Angel or Devil
  • Bride or Groom
  • Clown
  • Cowboy
  • Dracula
  • Fireman
  • French Maid
  • Leprechaun
  • King – or The King, Elvis Presley
  • Queen
  • Rapper
  • Prisoner
  • Punk Rocker
  • Football Fan
  • Santa
  • Spiderman
  • Wonder Woman
  • Witch or Wizard

More Ideas for Dogs

Your pet doesn’t have to be a thing or a person, of course. He could be a concept, like “love,” or “patriotism.” He could be a place. He could be a carrier — we’ve seen costumes where a dog bears a monkey in a saddle on his back, a cowboy, even a headless horseman. The two of you could wear coordinated costumes. The silliest pet costume we came across while researching this article was on the back of a basset hound. He was dressed as a strip of bacon.

Cat Halloween Ideas

Most cats aren’t dress-up fans, so if you’re planning to costume yours for Halloween, go minimalist. Be creative with collars, for example, adding bells, a bow or a dashing bowtie. Small capes suggesting royalty (or vampires) can work, and we’ve seen cats looking jaunty with ankle warmers. Whatever you choose, save her the humiliation of costuming her to look like a dog. Cats don’t find that funny at all!

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