The pumpkins are carved, decorations are hanging and you are ready to get the party started. Unfortunately, other people may want to have their own party with your cat as the center of attention. How will you keep your cat safe from dangers that lurk during this Halloween season?

The best thing to do at all times is to keep your cat indoors. An indoor cat is safer for many reasons: No hawks, owls, coyotes or other animal predators No people predators No way to catch diseases like Feline Leukemia or Feline Aids No way to catch parasites like fleas, ear mites, or worms

If you celebrate Halloween in your house, on the day of October 31st you will be preparing for the festivities. Whether you are throwing a party, getting the kids ready to go trick or treating or answering the door keeping tabs on the cat is the last thing you need to worry about.

Here are basic safety tips to have your feline ignore all the entire holiday: Choose a room as far away from the festivities for your cat. Make sure you set up a litter box, food, water, toys and a favorite cat condo. Use catnip or Feliway on the cat's favorite condo hideaway to keep her calm and relaxed. Turn on a cat video with lots of mice and birds. It may sound cheesy but many cats love the distraction. If you can place the TV a few feet from a condo viewing area your cat will feel even more secure. Do not enter the room in a costume. Your cat is used to seeing YOU, but seeing a masked or painted face will cause her undue stress. She will not understand what you are doing and she will be frightened and may lash out at you.

After the holiday you will still need to take care of a few household things: Although kitty may be curious about the candy and food that is around, do not let her eat it. Sugar is not good for her and chocolate is toxic. Kitty will probably be very curious about pumpkins that are carved. They actually like the taste and pumpkin is good for their digestion. However, the bacteria that grows on pumpkins after a few days can make kitty sick. Dispose of carved pumpkins the day after the holiday to alleviate this issue. Candy wrappers make a fun, scrunchy noise that kitty loves. She will most likely want to play with them and sometimes even eat them.

Keeping to these ideas will hopefully keep your cat healthy and happy throughout the Halloween season.