Ft. Lauderdale’s Leading Vet Offers Summer Safety Tips for Your Pet

Ft. Lauderdale’s Leading Vet Offers Summer Safety Tips for Your Pet

Sometimes it's easy for pet owners to forget that their pets have different tolerances to the hot climate than humans have and that leads to putting them unintentionally at risk. We've put together some simple tips to remind pet owners what they can do to ensure that their cat or dog makes it through another Florida summer without harm.

5 Tips to Keep Your Pet Safe in the Summer

Heat is your pet's number one enemy during the summer. While we like to get outdoors and often take our pets with us, we have to keep in mind that the climate is more dangerous to our four legged friends than it is to us. Be alert to signs of heat stroke in your pet and don't hesitate to get it to a veterinarian for help.

1. Water Safety. If you take your pet with you on a boat, make sure they wear a floatation device. Not all dogs are good swimmers and the ocean, or even a lake is certainly not the same as a backyard pool.
2. Avoid Party Animal Behavior. If you throw a BBQ party outside advise your guests not to feed the pet. The things we like, alcohol, buffalo wings, chocolate ice cream and cake can do serious harm to a pet's digestive system.
3. Symptoms of Heat Stroke. If your dog or cat exhibits excessive panting or difficulty breathing, increased heart and respiratory rate, drooling, mild weakness, stupor or even collapse, get them to a vet immediately. Animals with flat faces like pugs and Persian cats are more susceptible to heat stroke because they can't pant as efficiently as other pets.
4. Hydration. Make sure your pet has easy access to plenty of fresh, clean water to prevent dehydration. If you have an outside dog, make sure that both the pet and the water bowl have an area that is shaded all day long.
5. Safe Walks. Keep in mind that your pet doesn't slip on a pair of tennis shoes when they go for a walk with you. There is nothing between the hot concrete and their bodies other than the pads on their paws. While those pads are durable they are not indestructible and can blister from the heat. Keep walks short or limit them to grassy areas (if they have not been recently sprayed with insecticides).

These are all simple tips but they are essential for your pet's safety. If you have questions about a specific summertime activity and what, if any risk it poses to your pet, give us a call today and we will be happy to offer our advice.

Microchipping Pets in Hollywood FL : Veterinarian

Give Your Hollywood FL Pet a Permanent ID Card by Micro chipping 

While we all hope our pets never get lost or injured away from home, giving them a way to tell the shelter or veterinarian where they live and who their "parents" are can go a long way in ensuring a happy reunion.

At DPC we use the HomeAgain microchip and lost pet service because we believe that it offers the best value and is the most effective of the microchipping services. The HomeAgain chip is a permanent ID for your pet and will literally last a lifetime. The chip contains a unique identification number that is registered with HomeAgain with your pet's name and owner contact information. The chip can be "read" with a low frequency scanner which all shelters and veterinarians (about 50,000 nationwide) have.

Micro chipping your pet in Hollywood is a quick and simple procedure. At DPC Veterinary Hospital in nearby Davie, our veterinarians simply inject the microchip (about the same size as a grain of rice) under your pet's skin located between its shoulders. The process is very similar to a regular inoculation and your pet will act no differently as it does when getting its shots.

A nice feature of the HomeAgain chip is that it has a patented anti-migration feature that keeps the chip in place. Some chips will "slip" from their location making it difficult for a scanner to read. In fact given the work load at most shelters, if the chip can't be read between the shoulders then the shelter often assumes the pet is not chipped.

You Play the Most Important Role in Getting Your Lost Pet Back

When you have your pet microchipped at DPC our staff will assist you in setting up your registration on HomeAgain. We'll also show you how to enter changes to that information if you move, change a phone number or have any other changes in contact info. It's very important that this record be kept current and you are the only person who can insure that it is.