As the weather heats up, remember your furry friends

If we can say one thing about this summer, it is that the weather, all over the country has been unusual. Extreme heat waves, tornadoes, tropical storms in the Gulf of Mexico and the heavy rains, winds, heat, and humidity that we have seen here in Dodge, Olmsted and surrounding counties.

Publisher Rick Bussler’s Hot Pursuit column elsewhere on this page, talks about his cat.

Now everyone who knows me, knows that I am a big time animal person. If you talk to me for even a few minutes you will likely find out about my 14-year-old dachshund, Frankie; my two indoor cats, Sandy and Pouncy; and group of often abandoned and/or abused cats (don’t get me started on people who abuse or dump cats in the country) who come to my deck for food and water. Oh yes, also the two racoons and opossum who also visit.

So it seems to me that given the weather we have been experiencing, now is good time to remind people to watch out for their furry friends during heat waves.

The ASPCA offers some tips on hot weather safety:

Make sure pets are tested for heartworm if they are not on year-round preventative medication.

Make sure they have plenty of fresh, clean water when it is hot or humid outdoors as they can get dehydrated quickly. Also make sure they have place to get out of the sun and do not over-exercise them. If it is extremely hot, keep them indoors.

Know the symptoms of over-heating including excessive panting or difficulty breathing, increased heart and respiratory rate, drooling, mild weakness, stupor or collapse. If body temperature gets over 104 degrees there can even be seizures, diarrhea and vomiting.

Never leave animals alone in a parked vehicle.

Do not leave them unsupervised around a pool.

Keep unscreened windows and doors in your home closed.

Feel free to trim longer hair on your dog but never shave them. (Frankie, a long-haired dachshund, gets what his groomer calls a “summer cut.”)

Brushing cats more often than usual can also prevent problems caused by incessive heat.

Here is a big one: don’t let you dogs walk on hot asphalt. Their sensitive paw pads can burn. (If you can’t walk on it barefoot, neither can your dog.)

A couple other summer-time tips:

Be mindful of what you plant in your garden, some plants can be harmful to animals.

Use caution with herbicides and insecticides.

And, especially next week, never use fireworks around pets.

We have probably all heard these tips and warnings many times but it never does any harm to hear them again.

And, of course, there is always my suggestion for really hot weather. Do like I did today (Tuesday). Bring your dog with you to work, let him lounge around in the air conditioning and during the afternoon get him a pup cup.

And while we are talking about it, a lot of these tips can also apply to people. Enjoy the summer, have fun, but always respect the weather.