HOT Weather - Cool Pets

With the hot weather here in the Newark area, we'll all be enjoying outside activities, and there are special safety concerns when it comes to your four-footed friends. Pet expert Warren Eckstein has some advice on how to keep your pets cool in hot weather.

HEATSTROKE
This is the most serious and dangerous thing to worry about with your pet in the summer. Here are the symptoms:
• Excessive panting
• Vomiting/diarrhea
• Elevated temperature
• Hot, dry skin
• Pale lips and gums
• Collapse and coma

Pets rely on panting and sweating to maintain their normal body temperatures but cats and dogs only have efficient sweat glands on the pads of their feet. So, even if you don't feel overheated under the conditions you're in, your pet may not be feeling too good.

Also, pets with pushed-in faces, like pugs, are more susceptible to heatstroke because they can't cool themselves down with panting as efficiently, so be careful.

Younger and older pets are also more prone to heatstroke because their cooling systems are not running at peak efficiency.

The best way to treat heatstroke, of course, is to prevent it from happening in the first place.

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