Summer Pet Safety Tips

It's hot, Don! We seemed to jump right from winter to summer, which means the dangers associated with very hot temperatures are rearing their ugly heads. Here are some tips for keeping your pets safe and happy this summer.

• Use caution with pool chemicals. Many common pool treatments are poisonous to animals!
• Grapes/raisins, onions/garlic, and peanut butter sweetened with xylitol is harmful to dogs. Be sure your pet is not getting table scraps at family barbecues & gatherings.
• NEVER leave your pet in a vehicle, even for a few minutes. Temperatures rise much faster inside cars even with the windows down. Dogs (and children!) die every year in hot cars. Here are additional tips regarding hot cars from the ASPCA:
  
  
• Around Memorial Day and the 4th of July, do not leave fireworks out where your pet can eat them. Whether lit or unlit, fireworks are toxic!
• Keep your dog inside in the air-conditioning. If you must leave them outdoors occasionally for any prolonged period of time, be sure they have adequate shelter from the sun and fresh cool water. They also need a grassy area to lay, as concrete or asphalt can heat up very quickly in sunlight and cause burns to paw pads.
  
  If you see an animal in distress on someone else's property or in a vehicle, call Evansville Animal Care & Control at 812-435-6015 (or the animal authority in your county) to request a welfare check.
  
  
• Make sure your pet is up-to-date on their heartworm and flea/tick prevention! Heartworms are very prevalent in our area of the United States, and all it takes is one mosquito bite outside going potty to transmit them. It makes no difference if your dog is an "inside dog." Ticks are also projected to be a huge problem this year. Get your dog's monthly heartworm /parasite preventative from your veterinarian or from the VHS Low-Cost Vaccine Clinic every Saturday. You can buy various products either for heartworm and flea/tick separately, or one product to prevent multiple parasites. Heartworms are fatal if left untreated, and are much more expensive to treat than the cost of one simple monthly pill!

Help keep your own pets and other pets in our community safe this summer!