Summer Safety Tips For The Animals In Your Life
For most of us, summer brings vacations, pool parties, and ice cream. Summer can be a fun and rewarding time to spend with your pets as well, but you need to take some precautions to ensure that your pets have as much fun in the summer months as the rest of your family does.
Never leave a pet unattended in the car. A study by Stanford University in 2005 found that in as little as 30 minutes the internal temperature of your car can reach a lethal 120° F; and that’s on a relatively cool summer afternoon where the outside temperature was only 72° F. Leaving the windows cracked does little to limit the lethal temperatures inside. Your car acts like an oven heated by the waves of the sun baking whatever you have left inside. Check out www.mydogiscool.com for more summer safety tips.
Pets are just as susceptible as people to heatstroke and heat exhaustion. Watch for signs of heat intolerance include heavy panting, glazed eyes, staring, rapid heart rate, unsteadiness, vomiting, hot dry skin, an anxious expression and a deep red or purple tongue. Your pet does not have to have all of these signs to have heat stroke. If you even suspect that your pet is suffering from heat exhaustion, seek advice from a qualified veterinarian immediately. Our pets have tremendous survival instincts that help them avoid appearing sick or injured. Even with emergency medical attention, heatstroke can be fatal to your pet. The pet medicine is prevention. If you still want to play outside or exercise with your pet, stick to the cooler times of the day in the early morning or in the evening hours when the sun’s heat is not at its hottest point.
Protect Fido’s Paws from Burning on Hot Asphalt. In the summertime, asphalt bakes all day in the hot sun. In July, asphalt temperatures can reach temperatures high enough to fry an egg. On asphalt that hot, it won’t take long at all for your pet to burn their paws. It is not uncommon for dogs to receive first and second degree burns from just a short walk on asphalt. Consider buying protective shoes for Fido or simply stick to grassy paths.
Hydration is the key to summer survival. The warmer the temperature gets, the more you and your pet sweat. It’s biology 101. Whether inside chilling out or out having fun in the sun, make sure your pet has plenty of fresh drinking water available. Check their water bowl several times a day to make sure its full and bring along a water bottle and drinking bowl if you venture out for periods of longer than 20 minutes.
Watch that humidity. You always hear that old phrase, “it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity”. As we begin to overheat our bodies produce sweat, and as that sweat dries it evaporates taking excess heat with it. Dogs and cats only perspire around their paws, which is not enough to cool the body. So, in order to get rid of all that excess heat, animals pant. As animals pant, the extra heat leaves along with the air. The more humid the surrounding air is, the less heat your animal is able to be rid of by panting. Keep an extra careful eye on your pets on days with higher humidity.
Not all dogs can do the doggie paddle. Surprisingly enough, just like people, not all dogs can swim and it can be dangerous to assume that they can. Always supervise your pets when they are at the water’s edge whether by the pool or the lake.
Dogs need life vest too. If you are going boating, make sure that Fido is as safe as the rest of your family by putting on a doggie life vest. Even the best canine swimmer can get into trouble in the middle of the lake or ocean trying to swim to shore. In the event that the boat capsizes, you will have enough trouble on your hands trying to right the boat and keep your own head above water, to be able to swim Fido to safety. Do the safe thing and make sure Fido is wearing a life vest.
Cats In Your Garden?
Spring is in the air... birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, ... and there are cats digging in your garden?
Dogs must be licensed and kept on a leash, and there are penalties to dog owners for allowing their pets to run loose. However, these restrictions do not apply to cats. Since cats are not required to be leashed, they run free and can roam their neighborhoods. There are serious issues here that need to be addressed, but for a lot of homeowners, a more pressing problem is keeping unwanted cats out of their yards.
Cats are far more difficult to keep inside a yard than are dogs. Cats may wander into your neighbors yard, using gardens, sandboxes and lawns as litter boxes. For people who do not own cats, or who do not allow their own cats outside, this can be an irritating annoyance. How do you keep unwanted cats out of your yard?
The most obvious solution is to have a dog. Dogs and cats are notorious enemies, and a strange cat wandering into a dog’s domain can meet with some serious resistance! Of course, you do not want to find yourself the subject of a lawsuit should your dog injure or kill a neighbor’s cat. Sometimes, just the threat of a dog will be enough to keep the cat from entering your yard.
But what if you cannot have a dog or do not want one? What are some other ways to prevent cats from using your yard as a litter box?
-Install a rubber welcome mat, spike side up. This will stop the cat from walking into the area. Just sprinkle some mulch or dirt over the spikes, and once the cat walks onto the mat, and finds discomfort, will deter them from entering the area.
- Install a motion-activated sprinkler system. Most cats hate water, and once they discover that they will become drenched each time they visit your yard, they will stay away. Unfortunately to have one of these systems installed is expensive, but it will benefit your lawn and garden.
- Use a heavy mulch or bark to cover the gardens. Cats like to dig and scrape when preparing an area to use for their toilet. If the garden is covered with thick bark, cedar or other mulch, or rocks, a cat will not find it attractive for this use. Of course, you will want to ensure that your plants are able to grow and get enough moisture.
- Use pinecones. Cats don’t like the smell or the texture of pinecones, and will avoid areas where they are present.
- Use cat-repellant agents. There are actually a number of cat-repellant products on the market. Most contain pepper-based products, which will be unpleasant for the cat to ingest and will emit a strong odor, thus keeping the cat off the lawn. Orange peels, ground up, can also repel cats. Use your favorite Internet search engine to find cat-repellant agents.
Responsible cat owners have their pets spayed or neutered and monitor their activities. Your neighbor may be unaware that his or her pet is creating a problem for you, and keeping their cat out of your yard may be as simple as letting them know.