Summertime means more fun and more play.

This hot season might be an excellent time to strengthen your relationship with your pet, but as the weather gets hotter, the risk of accidents also increases.

No worries. We will provide proven tips to keep your furry friends safe this summer.

Ensure your pets' safety in summer by keeping them hydrated, avoiding feeding leftovers, providing a cool place, occasional grooming, jog/walk time, warding off parasites, and regular wellness checks.

Read on for more ideas about giving special attention to your furry members this hot season.

Summer Safety Tips for Pets

Overheating, sunburn, stroke, and dehydration are the major problems during the hot summer.

You should notice if your pets are panting excessively, have trouble breathing, have an elevated heart rate and respiration rate, have dry gums, have glassy eyes, drool, or otherwise seem tired.

It does not take long for a pet to develop these symptoms, which requires knowing more about them.

It is the best time to jump and play with your furry members. However, this fun season also comes with various risks and injuries.

1. Keep them Hydrated

Unbelievably, many dogs lose their sense of self-control when having fun outdoors, where short-nosed dogs, like bulldogs and pugs, are always at risk of overheating.

You must always ensure your dog has access to clean drinking water. It will help if you also warn your pups to pause in the shade now and then while playing outdoors.

Did you know that pets start to show signs of dehydration after 24 hours?

Signs of dehydration in pets

• Heavy drooling.
• Dry gums.
• Weakness and fatigue.

Therefore, you should analyze your pet's behavior when it's hot or humid outside.

Did you know that dogs can die within 15 minutes due to overheating?

 

Tips to keep pets safe from dehydration

• You should ensure your pet has access to fresh, clean water inside the home.
• Always remember to take a bottle of water with you when you go outdoors.
• Switching to moist dog food to increase fluid intake will be best.
• If your dog shows dehydration symptoms, give them small quantities of water to drink every few minutes or give him pieces of ice to lick.
• You can also give your dog Ringer's lactate to restore the balance of his electrolytes.

2. Avoid Giving Leftovers

You should not allow your dog near the open flame, which is risky because the smoke can irritate your pet's eyes and nasal system.

The foods we eat contain high calories and fats. Therefore, you should not give leftovers to pets as they cannot digest them and become prone to getting sick.

How do party foods affect pets?

• Dogs and cats cannot digest high-calorie foods.
• Alcohol-mixed foods can lead to coma, sadness, and intoxication.
• Change in diet can cause indigestion and diarrhea.
• A high amount of oils and fats can cause severe intestinal issues.
• Chocolate, raisins, onions, and other items included in our foods can cause pet allergies.

Instead of giving them leftovers, here are the food items you can provide your pets.

• Turkey.
• Salmon.
• Pumkin.
• Cheese.
• Carrots.

3. Keep Pets in a Cool Place

It would be best to keep your pet in the shade during the daytime.

Even though they like sunbathing, dogs and cats are more susceptible to heat stroke in direct sunshine.

Did you know that overheating can risk the sudden death of dogs from cardiac arrhythmia?

Tips to evade heatstroke

• Do not leave your pet in the parking lot. Dogs and cats inside a heated car can have heat stroke in less than 10 minutes.
• Please keep them in a place where the air conditioning is on.
• Provide them a break to breathe in fresh air during extended tours.

However, if your pet gets sick due to extreme heat, you should consider it a high alert.

What should you do if your pet gets heatstroke?

• It will help if you focus on reducing body temperature safely and carefully.
• Pour cool water over the animal's head, stomach, armpits, and feet.
• You can also place damp cloth and keep replacing them.
• You should ensure a constant flow of air across the animal.
• You can also use rubbing alcohol on the footpads to open pores and promote sweating.
• If a critical situation occurs, you must rush to the hospital to provide intravenous fluids, moderate sedation, and low-concentration oxygen therapy.

4. Groom Your Pet

Pets can acquire sunburns, especially those with short or light-colored coats during the sunny season, which may even cause skin cancer.

Therefore, you should apply sunscreen to your pet's belly, ears, and nose every three to four hours if you intend to spend the day outside in the sun with them.

Moreover, it would be best if you only used sunscreens intended for animals. Pets tend to lick it, and sun creams designed for people may contain poisonous ingredients that can result in an emergency.

You can use Epi-Pet K-9 Care Sunscreen, Sit Stay Forever Sunscreen, and other pet-designed sunscreens suitable for your pet's skin.

How does grooming help in summer?

• Cleaning and brushing the fur makes your pet feel active and fresh.
• Nail trimming and grinding nails can keep them safe from bacteria.
• Pet massages are frequently used to calm them down.
• It helps to make them comfortable and control their temperature.

However, you should not shave the fur entirely because it is created by nature to keep warm in the winter.

5. Manage Jogging or Walking

If your dog likes to walk around the lanes and parks, it will be best not to walk them on concrete as it will damage your pet's paws.

It would help if you used a cooling body wrap, vest, or mat to prevent your pet from overheating indoors or outdoors. These items will stay chilly for up to three days if you soak them in cool water.

You can consider giving your dog a relaxing soak after exercise if they find bathing upsetting.

Things you should keep in mind while walking your pet:

• Walk or exercise your pet in the morning or evening time.
• Take a look while walking if they have trouble breathing or not.
• Take a stroll on the grass.
• Keep clean drinking water with you.

6. Keep Parasites Off

Many pets endure discomfort throughout their lives from external parasites like fleas, ticks, or mites on their skin or ears.

When a flea matures into an adult, it lives on your pet.

Did you know that female fleas start laying eggs after 24 hours of sitting on your pet's body and can lay up to 50 eggs daily?

Pets infested with these parasites may have excruciating itching, severe skin infections, or even anemia. Thanks to modern medicine, you can treat or control parasites more easily.

 

How to Treat Parasites                         

Removing parasites from the area is the only method for treating discomfort.

It can be difficult to eliminate if an infestation occurs in your home. However, there are a variety of highly effective flea control solutions and drugs on the market to do so.

• You can use top-quality flea-controlling products like Advantage, Revolution, Frontline, Comfortis, and Sentinel.
• If your dog catches an infection, apply antibiotics and clean the wound often.
• You should eliminate fleas from your dog's environment by discarding old pet bedding and washing its belongings.
• To treat all flea life phases, use pesticides such as methoprene and pyriproxyfen inside and outside your home.

How to prevent your dog from getting infected

• For internal parasites, you should consider deworming a few times a year.
• It will be best if you regularly clean your pet's living place.
• Consulting with a vet will help if you take preventive measures during flea season.
• Regularly clean your pup's water and food bowl and disinfect using rubbing alcohol.

7. Give Your Pet a Pool Time

It is a great idea to have fun and relax with your pups around the pool in the hot weather.

However, you must watch out for your dogs, whether relaxing by the lake or having a dip in the pool.

Even if dogs can swim, they always do not understand how and where to leave the water to avoid unintentional drowning.

 

• Consider getting a life vest for your pet if you spend a lot of time on the water.
• Your pet could get hurt in the hot sand and warm sun.
• Going to the beach is acceptable if you keep your dog in a shaded place and provide lots of fresh, cool water.

Other risks that pools impose on your pet include the following:

• The concrete that surrounds pools gets much too hot for your pet.
• Pool areas might not have enough shade to keep your pet comfortable.
• Your pet's skin, throat, and stomach may be harmed by chemicals in pool water, like chlorine.

Tips to take care of dogs in pool and beach:

• Firstly you should introduce your pets to the water by gradually walking around the surfaces.
• You should make sure they wear floating devices.
• After swimming, rinse your dog clean to eliminate any salt or chlorine from his fur.
• Additionally, try to prevent your dog from swallowing pool water.

8. Regular Health Checkups

Regular health checkup is necessary for all seasons. However, it is essential during summer because the furry animals leap and jump more comparatively this time.

Most eye and ear infections and body injuries are inevitable this season.

Nobody wants to witness their furry family members in poor health. Effective preventative healthcare and early illness identification are crucial to keep them happy and healthy.

Did you know that dogs and cats are stoic animals who conceal their distress?

Dogs frequently continue to greet you joyously even when they are feeling unwell. Cats, on the other hand, are masters at masking illness.

Why do pets need regular health checkups in summer?

• Tiredness and fatigue persist more due to hot weather.
• Pets are more prone to the risk of bone and muscle injuries as they play most of the time.
• Pet summer health checkup includes hydration check, lumps screening, blood pressure measurement, urine screening, and complete blood count.

Conclusion

Prevention is better than cure. Hence, pet parents should be concerned regarding the safety of furry babies before it is too late.

Ensure your pets have a shaded area to escape the sun while you enjoy the sunny season and explore beaches and parks with your pets

Moreover, you should not over-exercise them, and always keep them cool during periods of high heat.