As summer arrives, most of us look forward to more time outdoors and fun vacations with family, friends, and even our pets! As a pet mom myself, I know my dog and cat enjoy getting even more attention from the kids being home during the summer. My dog enjoys traveling with us and we usually bring him along on most of our vacations and our outdoor excursions. My pets love this time of year but we do have to take a few extra precautions to make sure they stays safe during our summer adventures. Here are a few pet summer safety tips to help you keep your pets happy, healthy, and safe during the summer months. I’ve partnered with Purina to bring you this post and remind pet owners that safety should always be top of mind.
Pet Summer Safety Tips For Dog And Cat Owners
Did you know that June is National Pet Preparedness Month? This makes a lot of sense because it is easy for the fast-rising summer temperatures to sneak up on us. As pet owners, it is important to take time to plan ahead and re-evaluate our pets’ safety at home and/or during summer travel and outdoor trips. Heat and travel are the two biggest sources of concern but they aren’t a problem if you use these pet summer safety tips.
Pet Hydration
Keeping your pet hydrated during these hot summer months is super important, especially if they are getting more activity than normal. Be sure to provide them with plenty of water and cool, fresh water whenever possible. If you are taking your dog out for a hike or a trip to the park to play fetch, be sure to bring along some water and a dish for your dog. There are lots of cool collapsible dishes that you can choose from or even special pet water bottles that have a drinking flap built in for extra ease. For dogs and cats, cold wet cat food can be an excellent additional hydration treat. Hydration is top of my pet summer safety tips because it is an all day, every day habit to develop.
Hot Cars Are Extremely Dangerous
While traveling with your pet is fun, don’t leave your pet alone in a car. It is inevitable that some people will think, “I’ll just be gone a few minutes,” and leave their pet in a car and those few minutes will be too long. Don’t let this happen to you and your pet! As Dr. Kurt Venator, Chief Veterinary Office at Purina, says “On a day that is over 80 degrees, it could reach over 100 degrees inside a vehicle within minutes. Even with cracked windows, your pet will still get overheated and could become ill or worse. On very hot days, leave your pet at home or only go places where he or she is welcome.” Hot cars are second on my pet summer safety tips because they pose such a huge risk to a pet’s life.
Firework and Thunder Awareness
If you are a new pet owner, you may not know but most pets are scared of fireworks and sometimes even thunder. Even big dogs like German Shepherds are frightened and if left alone under these circumstances, they are likely to run off or cause damage to property and themselves in trying to escape or ease their anxiety. Before the Fourth of July and summer storms roll around, there are many things you can do pet anxiety prevention. From rewarding to comforting your pet, you can help keep your pet safe, comfortable and calm. You may wish to feed you pet a diet with anxiety-reducing nutrition or consider a probiotic that has been shown to help dogs maintain calm behavior, like Pro Plan Veterinary Supplements Calming Care. You may wish to check into options like thunder vests for pets with extreme anxiety.
Pet Digestion
With summer often comes travel and/or changing of routines, all of which can be stressful for a pet and can cause a pet’s digestive track to get off balance. Consider speaking with your vet about Purina Pro Plan Fortiflora, made in special probiotic formulations for dogs and cats, to help prevent upset stomach or diarrhea when they are traveling or boarding.
Summer Ingredient Pet Safety
Fruits and berries contain vitamins, fiber and antioxidants and tend to be low in sugar, so when fed to pets properly, they’re a healthy treat for pets. That is why a few summer fruits can be found in some pet foods and treats like Pioneer Woman Natural Dog Treats, Chicken & Blueberry Recipe Waffles. Still, some common summer foods can be harmful to pets, always check if you are unsure. Be aware that grapes are toxic to dogs, and chicken bones can splinter and be deadly to your pet. More ingredient pet safety tips in the infographic below.
There are many factors that can impact a pet’s health and safety in the summer months, from how they handle the heat to reducing anxiety in high-stress situations. The pet experts at Purina want to help pet owners prepare for the variety of scenarios they may encounter with their pets as the weather warms up. Purina has more than 500 pet behaviorists, veterinarians and nutritionists on staff who understand and care about the pet health, safety and overall wellness. I hope these pet summer safety tips help you to make the most out of your summer with your pets. For more information and tips about keeping your pets safe, please visit www.Purina.com/.
Pet Summer Safety And Preparedness Kit
With these pet summer safety tips in mind you may also wish to assemble a Pet Summer Safety + Preparedness Kit that keeps things handy for you to be able to grab and go on your adventures.
A few items you may wish to include:
- Portable Pet Water Bottle
- A few cans of wet pet food
- Thunder vest
- Purina Pro Plan FortiFlora Cat + Dog Probiotic Supplement
- Healthy Pet Treats for reward
- Purina Busy Bone Dog Treats to keep dog occupied
- Pet toys for play time
- Pet Safety Card with emergency info
I hope these pet summer safety tips helped teach you something new or remind you of good safe practices for the changing seasons. Tag us in your summer pet photos #familyfocusblog and @Purina! You can see my pet photos with #RonTheCat and #ScoutTheDog on Instagram.
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