With longer days and pleasant nights, summer may be your and your pet’s favorite season. However, the heat, humidity, and sun pose health hazards to your furry friend. Pets can suffer from heat-related illnesses, dehydration, and sunburn. If you want to enjoy the great outdoors with your pet, follow our Tamberly Animal Hospital team’s essential tips to prioritize your furry pal’s safety during the hot summer months.

Pets’ summer health hazards

Along with all the fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes, heat-related threats also pose health hazards to cats and dogs. Prevent your pet from developing these common heat-related conditions:

  • Heatstroke — Pets can quickly overheat, especially on hot and humid days. Dogs and cats primarily cool themselves through panting and limited sweating through their paw pads. When the heat is excessive, their bodies can’t cool down efficiently, leading to heatstroke. Your pet’s heatstroke risk increases if you leave them unattended in a vehicle or in an outdoor enclosure with no shade or water. 
  • Dehydration — Your pet always needs water, but when the temperatures get higher, they need to drink more. Pets can rapidly become dehydrated during lengthy or strenuous exercise or if spending the day outdoors with no water. 
  • Sunburn — Cats and dogs, particularly those with short or light-colored fur, can get sunburned. Areas with less fur, such as the nose, ears, and belly, are more susceptible to sunburn than other body areas. 
  • Severe paw burns — Pavement, asphalt, sand, and packed dirt can become extremely hot under the summer sun. When pets walk across these surfaces, their paw pads can sustain burns that sometimes require emergency care. 

Heat safety for pets

Now that you are aware of how heat endangers pets’ health, you need to take action. Prevent your pet from developing heat-related injuries or illnesses by following these tips:

  • Provide plenty of water and shade — Ensure your pet has access to fresh, clean water at all times by placing a few bowls inside your home and around your yard and ensuring you have extra water on walks and car rides. If your yard has no natural shade, put up an umbrella for outdoor activities. To ensure your pet can get out of the sun, you should also bring an umbrella or canopy if you are going to a lake, park, or other outdoor spot. 
  • Avoid peak sun hours — Walk your dog early in the morning or late in the evening when temperatures are cooler. Also, limit playtime and outdoor activities during peak sun hours, typically between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Enjoy playing fetch or hide-and-seek with your furry pal in your air-conditioned home to encourage exercise and enrichment. 
  • Never leave your pet in a car — Temperatures inside a parked car can soar to dangerous levels within minutes, even with the windows cracked open. Leaving pets in a vehicle for any amount of time during the summer can be deadly. Leave your pet at home rather than risking their life. 
  • Protect their paws — Before venturing out with your pet, check the pavement with your hand. If it’s too hot for you, it’s too hot for your pet. Consider taking your furry pal to a grassy park or on a shaded walkway. Another option is to outfit your pet in special booties designed to protect their paw pads from hot surfaces. 
  • Use pet-safe sunscreen — Because the summer sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays are intense, you need to safeguard your pet against sunburn. Limit your furry friend’s exposure to direct sunlight by moving them to a shaded area. Apply pet-safe sunscreen to their ear tips, nose, and stomach, or to other spots with minimal fur. Reapply sunscreen if your pet has been in the water.
  • Groom regularly — While you may be tempted to shave your furriest friend, avoid doing so. Fur protects pets from sunburn and provides insulation from heat. Periodically bathing and brushing your pet can keep them cooler and their fur in excellent condition
  • Know the signs — Heat illnesses can be subtle at first, so you need to be able to recognize heatstroke signs such as excessive panting, drooling, rapid heartbeat, lethargy, vomiting, and collapse. If your pet seems uncomfortable or restless outdoors, move them to a cool area. Immediately contact our Tamberly Animal Hospital team if your pet shows heatstroke signs.

By taking these precautions, you help your pet enjoy the summer safely. Always be mindful of heat-related illness signs and take immediate action if you suspect your pet is overheating. Contact our Tamberly Animal Hospital if you have questions about pet heat safety.