WITH temperatures across Australia set to skyrocket, Dr Glen Richards from channel 10’s hit show Shark Tank is reminding pet owners to be aware of common issues that can prove fatal over the summer holidays.
1. Heat stress
“In particular, exercising dogs in the middle of the day can be dangerous at this time of the year.”
Over summer, in particular when humidity gets high, pets struggle to temperature regulate because they regulate through evaporative cooling over their tongue, so they start panting and that helps them cool down, but if they humidity is high, that mechanism doesn’t work so well. So over summer, be sensible, dogs can’t handle the heat so well. So cooling mats, ice treats, and even turn the air conditioning on.
2. Choosing the right Pet Sitter
For Pet Owners who are heading away for the Christmas Holidays, Dr Richards recommends asking the right questions. “I love that PetCloud has worked with the RSPCA to develop a framework, and the fact that your pet sitters are insured and have a home-away-from-home is fabulous. When you go away on holidays, you can almost have a guilt-free holiday because you are putting your pet with another pet lover, and some of these pet lovers are going to get them more attention than they get at home.” Dr Richards says.
“PetCloud has a wonderful process for engaging with Pet Sitters and it’s a great idea to always have a Meet & Greet first to see where your pets are going to stay.
“Find out whether that Pet Sitter will be home a lot, because if you have a high maintenance dog that needs human companionship – you’ll need to select a Sitter who will be home a lot.
Ask Sitters about their medical expertise, are they able to cope with a diabetic dog and have to give medication? Are they experienced as a Pet Owner themselves? Is the backyard big enough? Is the Pet going to spend some time in the home? Is the Sitter going to be home throughout the day or regularly every night?
If you have a list of questions around the key things that you need to know as a Pet Owner to place your beloved pet who is one of your family members, in someone else’s home, a tick list will help you go through your list of priorities
Asking these questions will help you figure out if they’re going to meet your expectations.”
3. Pancreatitis
“So often we’d see Pet Owners wanting to indulge their pets over Christmas, and the most common presentation was when pet owners would give leftovers to their pets and that fatty ham which can lead to pancreatitis.”
The pancreas is an organ in the body that helps digest food, but in actual fact if you give a dog a big feed of fatty foods, the pancreas in a way almost starts digesting itself and they force them into pancreatitis.
So perhaps just a tiny treat but keep feeding them their regular food.
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