How to care for your pet during summer

Pet Care this Summer!

No one likes to feel too hot. It’s uncomfortable, you feel restless and often grumpy. Your pet feels just the same when the weather heats up and they get too hot. While pets have some natural ways of keeping cool when the weather is warm, the horror stories of dogs being left in cars on hot days shows that when it comes to caring for your pet extra precautions need to be taken when temperatures soar. Here are some tips for caring for your pet during warm summer months.

Know your pet

Different types of pets cope differently to the heat, so how you care for your dog during summer can be different to what you cat will need. Here is a rough guide to how different pets cope in the hot weather.

Cats. Of all pets cats cope best in warmer weather. In fact many cats like the hot weather and can often be found outdoors stretching and sleeping in the sunlight. When a cat gets too hot, they will usually take themselves to a cool and shaded area to sleep and rest; during hot weather cats tend to sleep more as the rest helps them to cool down. A cat’s sweat glands are found in their paws, so if they are leaving damp paw marks it is a sign that they are feeling hot. As well as this, a cat usually won’t pant, so if your cat starts panting it could be a sign of heatstroke and you should contact your vet.

Dogs. Dogs can overheat much more quickly than cats, so extra care needs to be taken to ensure they remain cool. To help dogs cope with warm weather it is advisable to walk and play with them during the cooler times of the day. If your dog starts severely panting or drooling, are lethargic, vomit or collapse you should contact your vet as these are signs of your dog overheating. It is vital that you never leave your dog in the car on a hot day, even with windows open, as they fatally overheat within minutes.

Rabbits and small animals. These types of pets are often nocturnal so will not cope well in the hot sunshine. It is best to keep these types of pets indoors in cool areas of your home, ideally on a cool tile surface. Signs of rabbits and small animals over heating include restlessness, fast/shallow breathing, wetness around the nose, hot ears, uncoordinated movements and seizures.

Exercising your pet during summer

Whatever type of pet you have be careful that they don’t exercise too much in the heat. It is best to play with cats and exercise dogs when the weather gets a little bit cooler, for example early in the morning or in the evening when the sun starts to set. It is unadvisable to handle rabbits and small animals during hot weather as this can quickly lead to them overheating.

Access to water

An important way to care for your pet during summer is to ensure that they have access to water at all times. Keep your dog and cat water bowls filled with water and in a place that is easy for them to get to. Ideally, have several water bowls around your house and garden so that they have quick access to water whenever they need it.

To help keep your pet well cared for during summer, as well as throughout the rest of the year, at QD we offer a wide range of pet care products for dogs, cats and small pets.