Summer Pet Safety Tips: How to Keep Your Pets Cool and Healthy in the Heat

Whether you're planning your next outdoor adventure or relaxing in your backyard, these pet safety tips will help keep your pets cool, comfortable, and protected all summer long.

Our pets are family, and desert summers are hard on them. Dogs and cats cannot sweat the way we do, so they overheat quickly. A little planning keeps them safe and happy until the weather cools down.

Never leave a pet in a parked car

Even with the windows cracked, the inside of a car can become dangerously hot in minutes. This is true on mild days too. If you cannot bring your pet inside with you, leave them at home.

Protect paws and bodies

Pavement and sand can get hot enough to burn paw pads. Try the back of your hand on the ground. If you cannot hold it there for a few seconds, it is too hot for your pet. Walk in the early morning or evening and stick to grass when you can.

Keep pets cool at home with these simple steps:

• Provide fresh, clean water at all times, inside and out.
• Make sure there is shade if your pet spends time outdoors.
• Try a cooling mat or a damp towel to lie on.
• Skip intense play during the hottest part of the day.
• Ask your vet before shaving a pet's coat, since fur can protect from sunburn.

Know the signs of heatstroke

Heavy panting, drooling, bright red gums, weakness, vomiting or collapse can signal heatstroke. Move your pet to a cool place, offer water and call your veterinarian right away. Flat faced breeds, older pets and pets with heart or breathing problems are at higher risk.

If it feels too hot for you, it is probably too hot for them.

Pet medicines and safety

Keep your own medicines out of reach. Many human medicines, including common pain relievers, can be very harmful to pets. Never give your pet a human medicine unless your veterinarian tells you to.

Some pets need medicine that is hard to give, or a strength that is not made for animals. With a prescription from your veterinarian, a compounding pharmacy can sometimes prepare a flavored liquid, a treat style form, or a different strength. Compounded medicines are prepared for an individual patient on a valid prescription and are not FDA approved. Ask us if this might help your pet.

Fireworks, barbecues and summer gatherings bring their own risks. Keep pets indoors in a quiet room during fireworks, and make sure their ID tags and microchip details are current in case they get scared and run. Keep foods like grapes, onions, chocolate and anything with xylitol away from curious noses. Ask guests not to share plates with your pets, however much they beg.

Have questions about anything in this article? Call us at 661.480.2373 and talk with a CarePoint pharmacist. We are happy to help, and there is never a charge for a conversation.

This article is general education, not medical advice.