Dangerous Halloween Candy for Your Dog
Posted Oct 27, 2016 in Seasonal
Every year, we celebrate the last night of October carving pumpkins, dressing in scary costumes, and everyone’s favorite- eating candy. While we are free to eat how every much candy we please, our dogs aren’t as lucky. Many types of candy that is common on Halloween can be extremely dangerous for your dog. Here’s a list of some of the candy to keep out of your furry friend’s paws.
Candy Corn
As we all know, candy corn is made with pure sugar. For us, eating too much candy corn may just give us a cavity. But for our dogs, it can cause severe gas and diarrhea. The high levels of sugar in candy corn, as well as similar high sugar candy, can pull water into the colon and cause a bad case of diarrhea, which you don’t want your dog having on Halloween night.
Chocolate Covered Raisins
Chocolate is bad for dogs, raisins are bad for dogs. Combined together, they are definitely one of the worse candies your dog could eat. Chocolate can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and seizures, and raisins can cause kidney failure, so if your dog eats any of these toxic treats, take them to the vet immediately.
Any Candy with a Wrapper
Dogs will probably try to get into the candy bowl at some point, and if they do, they will most likely not take the wrappers off the candy (shocker!) Foil and plastic that candy is wrapped in can cause an obstruction in the intestines and irritate the lining of the GI tract. They may pass it easily, but it is best to keep these away just in case.
Bite Sized Hard Candy
These small little treats, such as Runts, Jolly Ranchers, and Lifesavers, may taste super yummy to your dog, but can also be very dangerous. When a dog eats one of the tiny candies, it can become slippery and be inhaled into their windpipe, causing choking. To be safe, keep them away!
Sugar Free Gum
This is the worst Halloween candy your dog could eat. Sugar free gum contains Xylitol, which causes a very severe drop in blood sugar that can happen very quickly after they eat the candy. Your pup may become tired, unable to walk and start having seizures. They could have severe liver damage and potentially fatal liver failure. Safe to say you probably shouldn’t have this one in your house at all!
To be safe, make sure the candy you’re handing out is in a place your pet cannot reach. If you have kids coming home from trick or treating, be sure they don’t leave their candy out where your dog could eat it. If your dog does eat any of these candies, or anything else you may think is unsafe, call your vet right away. Happy Halloween!
