Memorial Day Weekend and Summer Pet Safety Tips!

Kicking off the summer with your pet?  Whether it's picnics, fireworks, bike rides, or beaches, it’s important to keep our pets in mind when planning for some summer fun.  Take a look below at some Pet Safety tips from the ASPCA you may have not considered before.

- Keep Alcoholic Beverages Out of Paws Reach:  Alcohol is poisonous to pets so make sure your pet cannot accidentally consume any beer, wine or spirits.

- Keep Pets On Their Regular Diet: Although it is easy to cave to the big puppy dog eyes, it’s better to just say no!  Sudden changes to your pet's diet can cause vomiting and diarrhea.  Also, certain foods that are often found at picnics and BBQ's such as onions, avacado, grapes, raisins, and chocolate are very toxic to dogs.

-  Use Only Pet Specific Insect Repellent And Sunscreen:  Never use human insect repellent or sunscreen on your dog. Ingestion can result in drooling, vomiting, diarrhea, excessive thirst and lethargy.

- Supervise Pool Time:  Never leave children OR pets unattended around a pool, beach or lake. Not all dogs are expert swimmers and can get exhausted or panicked in the water quickly. Also, pools contain toxic chemicals like chlorine that can cause vomiting and diarrhea, if your pet swallows too much water.  

-Provide Water: Be sure to provide plenty of fresh clean drinking water so your pet won't be as inclined to drink the pool, beach or lake water.

- Keep Pets Clear Of Matches, Candles And Lighter Fluid: Matches, citronella candles, and lighter fluid, if ingested, can all cause irritation and injury to the gastrointestinal tract, lungs, and central nervous system.

- Carry I.D: If traveling with your pet be sure to take I.D for them as well as their health records. Make sure they are wearing their collar and tags at all times.

- Never Leave A Pet In A Hot Vehicle: It only takes MINUTES for the inside of a car to become a big oven and your pet can die of heatstroke in a short amount of time- EVEN WITH A WINDOW OPEN.

- Provide Your Pet With A Quiet Place to Rest:  In addition to making sure that your pet has a comfortable place to get out of the sun, rain or other weather, also make sure they have some place to go should the commotion of the weekend be too much for them.