Hot Weather Safety Tips for Pets

I wanted to do a quick reminder about keeping your pets safe during the summer. August is a particularly hot month, so I wanted to talk specifically about leaving pets in the car. You might be surprised by some of the things I’m about to tell you! Also, let’s talk about keeping your pets cool at home while you’re at work.

Don’t Leave Pets in the Car!

Never leave a pet unattended in the car. Like children, pets can have a harder time staying cool, leaving them extremely vulnerable to heat stroke.

Your car can overheat even when the window has been left down a bit.

Parking in the shade or leaving water in the vehicle won’t prevent your pet from overheating either.

According to the ASPCA, young, overweight or senior dogs, or those with short muscles or thick, or dark coats, are most at risk for overheating.

If you see a pet in a hot car, call 911 immediately!

Symptoms of Heat Stroke in Pets

Recognize the symptoms of heat stroke and take action if you see them. Symptoms of heat stroke in pets include:

Restlessness
Heavy panting
Vomiting
Lethargy
Lack of appetite or coordination.

Keep Your Pets Cool at Home

If you are experiencing particularly hot weather, please leave your air conditioner on for your pets when you leave the house or go to work. Some people don’t do this, and I have to say, if you are too hot in the house, your pets will be too.

Please keep that in mind and keep the air conditioner on and set at a temperature that will at least be comfortable for them while you are gone. (Same goes for the furnace during winter. Don’t make them freeze while you’re at work!)

Dog Summer Safety Tips

Professional Dog Trainer and Behavioral Specialist, Doggy Dan, has created a free tutorial about keeping your dog safe in the summer. It covers your dog’s fear of fireworks, keeping your dog cool with dog-safe popsicles, dealing with excited or aggressive dog behavior with party guests, and discusses 15 ways to keep your dog cool this summer! Check out his tutorial! (affiliate link)

watch my video: dog summer safety tips

Cat Summer Safety Tips

You can get some great safety tips for cats from cat expert, Jackson Galaxy’s article here. Also, check out his video with more safety tips for cats during summer activities and holidays.

Keep Pets Safe During Summer

For more information about keeping your pets safe during summer and preventing them from getting overheated, check out this article from the Humane Society called, Keep Pets Safe in the Heat.

Also, here’s an article from the ASPCA called, Hot Weather Safety Tips.

Please feel free to comment if you have any other suggestions for keeping our pets safe in the summer. And please share this post with your friends and family who have pets, and on social media!

Thank You for Visiting!

Thank you for visiting my website. I donate 10% of my earnings to animal charities. You can see a list of the charities I donate to here.

You can see the variety of topics I cover by checking out the menu on the left. If you like this website, please share it with your friends who have a dog or a cat. Thank you! Debra