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Six Tips for Keeping Your Dog Cool

What To Do If You Think Your Dog is Heat Stressed

The normal temperature of a dog is 100 to 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit . You should worry if the temperature is 105 degrees or above. You can use any human oral thermometer in the dog; place it two to three inches into the rectum for a minute. If your dog is overheated, you should provide them with plenty of drinking water. Put cool water over the entire dog to help bring their body temperature down. If there is a limited amount of water, you should wet the ear flaps and the feet first. An alternate liquid that can be good for cooling purposes is rubbing alcohol. Next, you need to take the dog to your veterinarian immediately. If your dog has heat stroked, there are other treatments that need to be performed other than just cooling him with water.

Many areas of the world are seeing record high temperatures, which makes it even more important to ensure that your pets are kept cool. Veterinarians commonly see dogs with heat stroke, but most of these cases could easily have been averted with some easy precautions.
The following six tips will help you keep your dog cool:

1. The best method for keeping your dog cool is to simply allow him or her to stay inside a house with air conditioning.  Dogs want to be part of the family and almost always enjoy being inside.
2. If your dog must be kept outside in the heat, one tool to help keep your dog from overheating is a child’s small hard plastic swimming pool. Place it in a shaded area of the yard and fill with a few inches of water. Your dog can drink from it, walk through it, or even lie in it.
3. Misters are another good tool which can be installed on your patio or any shaded area of your back yard. These emit a fine mist of water that your dog can use to keep cool.
4. Another trick is to take large plastic jugs such as milk containers, fill them with water and then freeze them.  Place outside in an area where your dog usually stays, preferably in a shaded area.  Behind the ice-filled jugs, place an electric fan so it blows across the ice and creates a cool breeze for your dog.
5. Of course, never leave your dog in a car without the air conditioning on.  Even in relatively mild outdoor temperatures, on a sunny day the environment inside the car can get dangerously hot in just a few minutes.
6. Never leave your dog tied to a tree or a post. A common scenario is for a dog to keep circling the tree, winding the rope shorter and shorter until it is caught close to the tree trunk. As the sun moves across the sky, eventually the dog is in the full sun, and not able to reach its water bowl to try to help keep itself cool. Heat stroke can quickly ensue.

If your dog is heat stressed, it will be panting heavily, with its tongue hanging out long and wide. This increases the surface area of the tongue and allows for more evaporation to happen, which helps keep your dog cool. Another symptom is the color of the gums will be a very bright red or sometimes a muddy color. If you notice any of these symptoms, take action immediately! Cool down the dog and call your veterinarian for further instructions.

Heat stroke in dogs is usually easily preventable. Using these tips will let you enjoy hot weather safely with your dog and may even save your dog’s life!

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Family Cats and Pregnant Women: Take Measures to Prevent Toxoplasmosis Infection

Prevention Recommendations to Keep Mom Safe

Toxoplasmosis is a disease caused by ingesting raw or undercooked meats, or direct contact with infected feline feces.  The risks to your baby increase as your pregnancy develops. Indoor cats pose less of a risk because they are not hunting small rodents while you sleep.  Outdoor cats are a greater risk because they hunt and can bury their infected stool in your yard, garden or flower beds. See your veterinarian early in your pregnancy to discuss your potential risks of becoming infected with toxoplasmosis.  Your veterinarian can make further recommendations to prevent your exposure to this harmful parasite.

Nothing must spoil the joys of becoming a new parent.  Not even your pets.  But family cats with normal, every day habits can pose a risk to expectant women.  Women's immune systems can be disturbed by a parasite carried in fecal matter.  If you're the primary caretaker of your family's feline friend it may be time to ask for help.
Toxoplasmosis is a disease that can be transmitted from cats to humans by ingestion of undercooked meat products or contact with the stool of a contaminated cat. Toxoplasmosis can cause serious problems during pregnancy.
Cats allowed to roam outdoors are more likely to carry the parasite responsible for the toxoplasmosis infection.  They can hunt and kill mice and rats during the nighttime hours.  When the rodents are infected with the Toxoplasma parasite, a cat ingesting the diseased rodent can spread this infection through its fecal matter to humans.  Pregnant women have an increased sensitivity to the dangers of that contamination.
Cats living in an outdoor environment are also defecating outdoors.  They habitually bury their stool in flower beds, gardens and other soft soil areas.  Women who are pregnant must be aware that contact with dirt that has been used by an infected cat is also a danger.  Keeping cats indoors will eliminate their exposure to potentially infected rodents and decrease your chance of coming into contact with the toxoplasmosis parasite.
"More that 60 million men, women, and children in the U.S. carry the Toxoplasma parasite, but very few have symptoms because the immune system usually keeps the parasite from causing illness," advises the United States Center for Disease Control.  Appropriate testing can help your doctor determine the potential impact on your immune system.
The Center for Disease Control recommends that specific measures be taken to prevent exposure to the toxoplasmosis infection.  The CDC's preventative measures include:

• Avoid changing the cat's litter yourself whenever possible.
• Wear gloves if you must change it yourself.
• Wash your hands immediately after changing the litter.
• Wear gloves when you are outside gardening, planting flowers, vegetables, weeding or in contact with soil that could be a potential source of contamination.
• Keep litter boxes outside your home covered.
• Delegate changing the cat's litter to another family member.
• Change the litter on a daily basis because the parasite is most infectious in just-eliminated fecal matter for at least the first five days.
• Keep Fluffy or Garfield inside your house, apartment or condo throughout your pregnancy.
• Wear gloves and/or wash your hands thoroughly after handling raw meats.

"The risk to the baby increases the later in the pregnancy the new infection is acquired," says Michael Richards, DVM.  Check in with your veterinarian early in your pregnancy to ensure a healthy infant.

Featured Article:

Take Preventative Measures When Sleeping With Pets

Share Sleeping Space With Pets - Not Disease!

Use easy to remember prevention methods to keep your sleeping area pest and parasite free when you share it with your pets.  All family members can be affected by bacteria or parasites, so prevention is critical - and it's possible! Prevent parasites Treat for ticks Keep flea treatment consistent Wash hands frequently Cover litter boxes Pick up yard feces often Cover skin wounds Discourage pet licking Vaccinate as recommended Brush teeth daily Remember to discuss household habits with your veterinarian.  Your doctor may have other suggestions to make based on your own specific circumstances.

Adults and children oftentimes enjoy sleeping with household pets.  They can keep us warm, feel comfortable, make us feel safe and loved.  They may lick our faces, hands or other exposed areas before or during sleeping time.
Scratches and bites, wounds, abscesses, ulcerations or other breaks in the skin can allow bacteria to enter the body.  Pay special attention to these areas when they are present.  Eliminate bacteria transmission and infection by keeping them covered to heal quickly.  Also, take measures to prevent your pet from licking these areas.
What happens when the pests traveling on our pets begin to travel on us?  This is an issue of particular concern for family members with compromised immune systems.  If someone in your family has a reduced efficiency immune system due to disease, illness, treatment, aging or other factors you'll want to take special care when your pets stretch out beside them.  Good pet practices are important for all members of your family.  Those practices are critical for family members with reduced immunity to infection or disease!
Zoonoses in the Bedroom places particular attention on several good pet habits that owners must take to maintain the health and well being of their family members when sharing sleeping space.  The Center for Disease Control, vigilantly paying attention to the social-emotional role of pets in households, stresses preventative measures when owners choose to sharing sleeping space with their pets.
Flea Free Take special care to treat your pets for fleas.  This should be a lifetime habit you're already consistently addressing with your veterinarian.  If not, talk with your vet to determine the best course of flea reduction and elimination for your family's household.  Your vet can help you decide which product to use to keep your loved ones safe.  The doctor may also have recommendations to make about treatment options that will provide additional support for your pet's health and well being.
Tick-Tock It's Time to Treat Treating for ticks will be a discussion you need to have with your veterinarian.  Your doctor will be able to recommend treatments and alternatives as appropriate for your pet's health status and your home's location.  You may already be treating for ticks and you'll want your vet's feedback about other concerns and the impact sleeping with your pets may have on your family.
Scrub-a-Dub Remembering to wash your hands frequently will support your family with reducing or eliminating bacteria that may be shared between you and your pets.  Human hands are probably the area of our body that have the most frequent opportunities to transmit disease.  Typically, you may not give much thought to the places your hands have been before they appear in your kitchen preparing food or handling your child's toys.  Scrub-a-dub with lots of suds whenever possible!
Pearly Whites Need to Stay Bright Dental care for your pet is important.  When your pet is sharing your sleeping space keeping the pearly whites bright will have additional importance for the health and well being of your family.  Tartar and buildup on your pet's teeth will gather bacteria in their mouths.  Happily licking you or your family in bed can share that bacteria.
Very Vaccinated Keeping your pet's vaccinations current will help it maintain good health.  Those shots will also minimize chances that you or your family will become ill from something that can be prevented.  Your family veterinarian has a schedule for your pet's shots and can advise you as to necessary vaccine updates and out-dated practices.
Prevent Pests Preventing parasites in your home can be fairly easy when all members participate in preventative practices.  These practice include good hand washing during meal preparation, carefully handling feces and hand washing after handling, keeping litter boxes covered and clean, and maintaining a feces-free yard.  Pet owners who implement flea and tick treatment measures will also help to prevent parasites in their homes, beds and on their skin.
Infectious diseases can be transmitted from dogs and cats to owners that share sleeping space with them.  Notable examples include: Pasteurellosis in Japan and the United Kingdom, Cheyletiella dermatitis in France and cat-scratch disease in Taiwan.