Your furry, scaly and feathery friends not only need your love but a lot of care especially in the scorching summer months. We all want our pets to be happy, chirpy and healthy. Thus beware of the unforeseen health risks that your pet can get during the summer time.
Walking your pet can be fun but not in the summer months. Try to avoid the noon time when heat is at its full swing, early morning or late evening is the best time for the your pet’s walk when it is cooler. Make sure to take water with you, if you are planning the long walk. Let your pet relax by taking short breaks during your walk, under the cool shade of a tree. This will ensure that your pet do not feel overheated during the walk. Always walk your pet in the grass rather than on the hot pavement, as it will burn his padded feet.
Exercising is healthy and keeps the weight in check but overdoing it can exhaust and overheat your pet, in the summer season. Ensure to keep it at a healthy rate and when the pet seem exhausted its time to stop. During exercising, the body temperature rises faster than excess heat can be dissipated. In the summer, exercise of any kind should be cut back and limited to the cooler, early morning or later evening hours.
If your pet is gasping too much, is exhausted looking perhaps it’s the heatstroke. The best solution is wet towels soaked in cold water. Keep your house cool and your pet inside. If you do not have air conditioner then simply switch on the fan and blow the heat away from your pet.
Give them fresh clean water after short intervals of time. This will save them from dehydration and heatstroke. Hot weather may tempt your pet to drink from puddles in the street which is extremely toxic. So make sure they do not sneak a drink from the street. Never give your pet ice water, which can shock the system and cause severe upsets.
Care for your pets grooming. Short hair helps your pet to stay cool but do not shave off his hair .Thin coat will protect it against the sun. Hair is a natural insulator, whether it is warm or cool. In the summer, an animal’s coat insulates against sun, heat and insect bites. Regular brushing removes dirt and loose undercoat, which cleans and cools your pet.
The fatal mistake which people commonly do is to leave their pets in a parked car. Even if you have left the window open or parked in the shade the temperature inside the car shoots up like mercury within few minutes in the hotter months. If you never leave your children in car so hot. So why leave your pet in it?
Heartworm disease is a very common and serious problem in the summer season. Strange kind of parasites enters the bloodstream of your pet through a mosquito bite. The mosquito must have previously bitten a dog with heartworms. It injects larvae into the dog’s body which migrate until they find its way into the right side of the dog’s heart. Later these parasites lay eggs often causing death. The pet should be regularly diagnosed by the veterinarian, as it is a deadly disease. Mosquitoes are very common in the summer which makes it hard to take precautionary steps to protect your pets against these parasites but best cure is to prevent mosquitoes from thriving in your house and avoid taking your pet near areas such as ponds, marshes and other unclean water bodies.
Summer does not have to be fraught with peril but with ample precaution, both you and your furry friends can enjoy the long, sunny, shinny summer days. So happy summer petting.