Summertime and the Livin' Is Easy?!??

Each season brings animals with unique conditions to the office. Summer brings some real challenges for pets, owners and veterinarians. These are the “Summertime Top 10 Pet Issues and Hazards” in reverse order of difficulty in prevention, treatment, and prognosis.

10 - SUNBURN. If you shear your pet, be very careful of sun exposure the first couple of weeks. Like humans, animals can sunburn if skin is suddenly exposed to strong sunshine. Because of skin cancer risks, treat pink noses and ear tips with sun block.

9 - HEARTWORM EXPOSURE. This is more common in the summer simply because animals are outdoors more and the mosquitoes are active. Continue your preventative year round.

8 - FLEAS. Fleas reproduce faster in summer weather and the flea population increases exponentially. They can cause skin conditions and anemia, along with home infestations and misery, in pets AND their human housemates. Treat with quality products every 30 days.

7 - TICKS. Ticks are active and hungry in the summer. They carry diseases that may not show up until weeks later. If not removed carefully, the attachment site can become infected. If there are ticks in your yard, consider treating the yard as well as the pet.

6 - MAGGOT INFESTATION. Because flies are common and reproducing during warm weather, every summer we will see a few dogs with maggot infestations under their coat along the skin. If your pet has a heavy matted coat, which becomes wet (think water tank, pool, etc) or dirty (diarrhea) and the coat does not dry at skin level, flies will lay eggs in the coat. When fly eggs hatch you will have maggots in the damp coat along the skin causing skin irritation and infection. Keep the coat combed out, dry and clean.

The next post will address the top 5 summertime hazards to our pets.