How to Keep Your Pets Safe During the Summer

With summer comes added concerns for humans as well as our beloved pets. Extra precaution needs to be taken to ensure you keep your pets safe during the summer.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pet to keep safe
• Common sense

1. 

   Pay attention to the temperature. If it is too hot for you outside, it is too hot for your dog to stay outside. Provide adequate shade and water to keep your pets hydrated during the summer months. Do not leave them outside for long periods of time as they need access to cooler temperatures and an escape from the hot sun.

2. 

   Check your pets for ticks and keep up on preventative medicines to protect them from fleas, ticks and heartworms. Take extra precaution if you are near woods or water and ensure the medication also wards off mosquitos. Keep all your pets' shots and tests up to date to ensure they are double-protected. We found a tick the size of a dime hidden on our golden retriever that got past the tick prevention, but the Lyme shot kept him protected. If your pet suffers from allergies, see if there is relief. Some vets might recommend a small dose of Benadryl so your dog doesn't suffer outdoors.

3. 

   DO NOT EVER LEAVE YOUR PET IN A CAR! Even on an 80 degree day, the inside of the car can go up to over 100 degrees in a matter of minutes. This can dehydrate your pet, lead to stroke, brain injury or death. Don't think you can just crack the windows because they can still suffer from heat stroke and have long-lasting effects from being left in the car. This might make a drive across country a little harder if you take your pet with you so stop for fast food or make arrangements for your pet to stay home with a sitter.

4. 

   Take extra precaution with cats as they can fall out of windows. Low windows doesn't give them proper amount of time to land on their feet with can result in injury or death. Keep your windows closed or open just enough to let a cool breeze in (and not big enough for your cat to fall out of). Keep an eye out on your cat if you allow them outdoors to keep them away from danger of other animals or cruel people.

[lighthouse1958]

on 9/22/2009 Good advice on how to keep your pets safe during the summer. Yes, I'm sure the summer months can be real hard on them. We really need to be very careful with animals. 5*

[karileighk]

on 7/4/2009 A lot of people don't realize how important it is to check the temp :( It's a sad fact.

[jrosengarten]

on 6/22/2009 Great advice for keeping your pets safe in the summer months.

[kimmij]

on 6/22/2009 I love the pic you chose to head this article about How to Keep Your Pets Safe During the Summer. 5*

[billips]

on 6/3/2009 Good article on an important subject - those overheated cars are killers - B.