Summer and Your Pets

ShareSummertime Recommendations

In the Summer temperatures reach into the 90s and 100s. Such intense heat is not only dangerous for humans, but for pets as well. Here are some tips to protect your pets during summer heat waves.

Cars are potential death traps during the hot summer months because inside temperatures can climb to more than 120 degrees in just a few minutes, even on a mild sunny day. It's best to leave your pet at home while running errands during hot weather. In an emergency, if you absolutely must leave your pet in a car, PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING:

Open the windows and vents as wide as possible without providing an escape route, or, put your pet in a well ventilated cage inside the car and open the windows fully.

Provide fresh water

Check the car every ten minutes.

If your pet is panting, has a staring or anxious expression, does not obey commands, has warm, dry skin and a high fever, rapid heartbeat, or is vomiting, lower the body temperature quickly, with cool water either by immersion or by spraying thoroughly with a garden hose. CALL YOUR VETERINARIAN IMMEDIATELY. Our hospital is open or has emergency referral service 24 hours a day.

If your pet lives outdoors, make sure there is adequate shelter for protection from the midday sun and heat. Outdoor kennels should be well ventilated and in a shaded area. There should always be some shade for the pet to get out of the sun. Also, make sure there is plenty of fresh drinking water available to your pet. The bowl should be placed in a shaded area where it cannot be heated by the sun.

Exercise is important, but overexertion during hot weather commonly causes heat stress. Avoid excessive exercise during hot days (good advice for humans, too). And, keep your pet well groomed. Long hair and hair mats need to be clipped to help cool the animal.

Fourth of July and your pet: FIRECRACKERS are a danger to all pets-both physically and psychologically. Do not take your pets to the fireworks-We have seen many emotionally frightened pets as a result of fireworks. Below is an e-mail received July 7. 2000.

"Last night was July 3rd and neighbors were setting off fireworks for several hours. This morning, we couldn't find one of our cats and then about 11:00am, he finally turned up but he had an injury to his eye. He apparently had been so frightened by the noise and commotion that he ran through the woods and must have ran into a twig which injured his eye. A small piece of the twig was actually still in the eye socket when we first found him.

Hopefully, he'll be ok but next year, we're making sure all our cats are indoors from July 3rd to July 5th.

Blue-Green Algae Dangerous to Dogs:Few things are cuter than watching a happy dog splashing around in the water. (After all, it's called the doggy paddle for a reason.) But a hidden danger lurks in many lakes and ponds -- noxious blooms of blue-green algae that can be harmful to people and fatal to dogs.

The Minnesota Star Tribune reports: Officials in Minnesota last month warned residents to keep kids and pets away from suspicious looking lakes after linking the algae to the death of a 3-year-old black lab.

The blue-green algae thrive in still waters, Matthew Lindon, a pollution control specialist with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, tells Paw Nation. These algae occur naturally in many bodies of water, he says, and normally don't cause harm to swimmers, either human or canine. But when nutrients in the lake are rich and temperatures are high, the algae can multiply like gremlins, forming a thick scum on the surface.

These large masses of algae, called harmful algal blooms, sometimes produce dangerous toxins, according to a fact sheet produced by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. After coming into contact with the algae, people or animals might have skin irritation or breathing problems. Dogs and other animals have died after drinking lake water containing the toxins, the Agency reports.

Harmful algal blooms aren't only a problem in the Midwest, Lindon says. He cites reports of algae-linked animal deaths from California to Wisconsin to Maryland.

If your dog vomits or has seizures after swimming in a lake or pond, get it to a vet right away, Lindon tells Paw Nation. The toxins can act quickly, and medical treatment can't always save a dog that has swallowed the toxic algae. For that reason, it's critical to keep pets out of infested waters in the first place.

"Conditions [on lakes] can change rather quickly. If you see green, paint-like water or scummy conditions, keep pets out of the water," Lindon tells Paw Nation. If your dog has been swimming in a suspect lake, make sure to wash him before he can lick himself. "[Dogs] can consume a lot of algae by grooming themselves," Lindon adds.

Harmful algal blooms are mostly a problem in warm weather, Lindon tells Paw Nation. Now that November has arrived, it's much less of a concern. But it never hurts to be vigilant and keep an eye out for pond scum when walking your pup. "People tend to avoid those kinds of waters," Lindon says, "but dogs don't."