Hot Weather Safety Tips for Pet Owners from HVGB Animal Control

Safety Tips for Pet Owners🔔🦺🥵🐕‍🦺🐈

Extra precautions should be taken during hot weather to keep your animals safe. Even a short time in a hot environment can be life-threatening for your pet. Limit the length of time spent outdoors, never leave an animal unattended in a vehicle, and ensure animals always have sufficient water and a cool, sheltered place out of direct sun.

Never leave your pets in a parked car   

• If you are travelling with your pet and can’t take them inside with you when you leave your car, leave them at home where they are safe.
• Even in the shade or with windows cracked. Cars can overheat quickly to deadly temperatures, even when the weather isn’t severe.
• When it’s 22°C (76°F) outside, temperatures can quickly rise to 47°C (117°F) in these environments, which can be fatal.

Create a Cool Environment – Keep your pet indoors during peak heat hours, usually between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Use fans or air conditioning to keep indoor areas cool.

Provide shade and water 

• Provide constant access to shaded areas inside and out
• Make sure there is always clean, cold water available

Know the symptoms of overheating in pets

• Excessive panting or difficulty breathing
• Increased heart and respiratory rate
• Drooling
• Mild weakness
• Stupor or even collapse
• Symptoms can also include seizures, bloody diarrhea and vomit along with an elevated body temperature of over 104 degrees.
• Animals are at particular risk for heat stroke if they are very old, very young, overweight, not conditioned to prolonged exercise, or have heart or respiratory disease. Some breeds of dogs—like boxers, pugs, shih tzus and other dogs and cats with short muzzles—will have a much harder time breathing in extreme heat.

If you plan on spending time near a pool, lake or beach with your pet, make sure you give them fresh water and avoid letting them drink from the pool, or ingest ocean or lake water. When swimming, introduce your pets to water gradually and make sure they wear flotation devices when on boats. Rinse your dog off after swimming to remove chlorine or salt from their fur.

Take care when exercising your pet. Adjust intensity and duration of exercise in accordance with the temperature. On very hot days, limit exercise to early morning or evening hours.

Asphalt gets very hot and can burn your pet’s paws, so walk your dog on the grass if possible. Always carry water with you to keep your dog from dehydrating.