Summer Dog Health and Safety

With warmer weather there are a few tips regarding your dog's health that have come my way over the past week. I thought they were good reminders and worthwhile to pass along....

First, during warm and humid weather it's important to understand that dog's don't cool as effectively as human beings. They have fur and don't sweat through their skin. Much of their natural cooling is done through their mouths with panting. It's important to not only monitor your dog closely, but to be familiar with their normal appearance - particularly their eyes, attention or focus, and the size and wetness of their tongue. A dog that is getting overly warm will start to lose focus, and its tongue will lose moisture reducing the dog's a ability to cool itself.

Water, shade and air conditioning are good ways to get your pet cooled down if you notice problems early on. Do not over-do it on water. Water weighs 8.3 lbs. per gallon, and a large volume of water in a dog's stomach can lead to gastric torsion (bloat). Oral electrolyte solutions in such cases are either not necessary (slight overheating) or not effective (severe overheating).

If simple methods to keep your dog cool are not effective, you can pour water over your dog (not too cold), which will cool him/her as it evaporates. It's important to keep the dog in an area with moving air currents after wetting it down so that this cooling takes place. Crating the dog after wetting it will not allow sufficient cooling. Once your dog is improving you can dry it off and let it cool more passively. If you continue wetting your dog to encourage further evaporative cooling, you can cause its temperature to drop too low which causes further problems.

If at any time your dog's condition worsens or does not quickly improve, seek assistance of a Veterinary immediately. Thermal injuries (heat stroke) are life threatening and need immediate intervention with IV fluids and closely monitored cooling.

On another note, there have been reports of toxic exposures for dogs swimming in waters with Blue Green Algae. Swallowing water with the toxins from this algae can result in gastroenteritis, liver toxicity, kidney toxicity, and neuro toxicity. There are no known treatments for exposures beyond supportive therapy.

Algae blooms can occur at any time, but most often occur in late summer or early fall. They can occur in marine, estuarine, and fresh waters, but the blooms of greatest concern are the ones that occur in fresh water, such as drinking water reservoirs or recreational waters.

Some cyanobacterial blooms can look like foam, scum, or mats on the surface of fresh water lakes and ponds. The blooms can be blue, bright green, brown, or red and may look like paint floating on the water. Some blooms may not affect the appearance of the water. As algae in a cyanobacterial bloom die, the water may smell bad.

There is a picture for an example here:
http://snr.unl.edu/lakes/powerpoints.asp