Animals in Need: How to keep your pets safe at 'scariest time of the year '

The scariest time of the year is approaching for many animals and Animals In Need (AIN) are offering some tips on how to help your pet during Halloween.

With just over a week to go, fireworks can already be heard and this will increase as we approach the 31^st.

The most important action you can take is to bring your pets inside.

READ NEXT: 'It is devastating to lose an animal to something that is easily preventable'

Every Halloween, AIN receives numerous calls regarding dogs who have been lost or found. Fences that were previously thought of as unscalable have been cleared by dogs in a state of terror and panicked animals can easily get lost.

Even indoors, many animals are scared, so play the radio or TV to help mask any noise from fireworks and make sure your pet has a safe place they can curl up in.

Sadly, there are some cruel people out there, and this is a dangerous time for cats, especially black cats. Every year there are reports of cats being deliberately injured at Halloween, so please keep your cats indoors.

Goodies for Trick or Treaters can also pose a risk, with chocolate or sweets containing xylitol, being highly toxic if ingested by dogs, so please keep them well out of reach.

Meanwhile, the cat rescuers have had another busy week.

The latest arrival is a little kitten called Dot, who was found inside a car engine.

Miraculously, she was uninjured and is in good health.

Cats and kittens are attracted to the warmth of a car’s engine and as the temperature drops, there are likely to be more of these cases.

AIN are appealing to people to quickly check their car engine before setting off or to bang on the bonnet to give any sleeping cats a chance to wake up and escape.

The volunteers rescued a mother cat and her four gorgeous kittens at the weekend.

The mother cat was a stray who had given birth to a litter of kittens in a garden and so the cat family was brought to AIN as it is too cold outside for kittens now.

A black and white kitten called Tim was found on the side of the road two weeks ago with his eyes fused closed by infection.

Tim has received medical treatment since arriving at AIN but unfortunately the eyedrops and antibiotics are not working and his eye will have to be removed when he is bigger.

Sometimes, even the volunteers’ best efforts are not enough to save an animal.

Tiny kitten Hiccup had been found abandoned as a newborn, and sadly at the weekend curled up next to his heated teddy bear and went to sleep for the last time.

Hiccup had struggled through a challenging week, but he fought on with the support of his dedicated fosterer who did all that could be done for him but it was not to be. RIP Hiccup.

There was further sadness for AIN’s fosterers when kitten Noah passed away shortly after surgery to have his damaged eye removed.

Noah had been in a bad way when he was found a few weeks ago, but seemed to make a remarkable recovery.

However, his eye became badly inflamed again and the medication made him sick, which meant he could not wait any longer for surgery.

The only comfort is knowing that Noah knew warmth, comfort and love in his final weeks in his foster home.

There is also good news.

Bobby, the little kitten who had been found in a garden by a very gentle dog, is thriving and loving his hot water bottle owl.

It is important for orphaned kittens who are alone to have a "surrogate" mum object. Besides the owl being heated, it also has a heartbeat inserted to mimic a mother cat.

Finally, AIN would like to say a huge thank you to Carn Vets and to everyone who donated to their raffle for AIN’s animals.

The fantastic sum of €270 was raised along with a generous donation of cat food and toys.

To help AIN’s animals, please donate €2 to AIN’s ‘Help Us To Help Them’ fundraising appeal via your phone by texting the word ‘KITTEN’ to 50300. Every cent goes directly to the rescued animals for their food, bedding, vet bills, worming treatment, and vaccinations.

For further information on adoption, fostering, volunteering etc, please contact the main helpline on 087 1356188. For cat/kitten enquiries please call 087 7644420. Animals In Need Donegal is also on Facebook and has a website at http://www.animalsinneeddonegal.com

.