Never leave your pet in the car. A dog's body temperature is normally between 101°F and 102°F.
Dogs regulate their body temperature by panting, losing heat as saliva
evaporates off their tongue. Dogs don't sweat, their tongue is all
they have. If the air in the car is to hot then they can't evaporate
saliva as they pant. A rise of 3 degrees to a temperature of 105°F is
all it takes to create a dangerous situation. When the temperature
hits 108°F, the heart, brain, liver, kidneys, and intestinal tract
start to break down at a cellular level, and the damage can progress at
an alarming rate. A hot car is like an oven, with temperatures that can
rise an astounding 34°F per minute! Last year 2 Newfoundland dogs were
left in a car at Blooms Garden center near Wroughton. Concerned
members of the public broke the cars windows and retrieved them but
unfortunately one of the dogs died. (read bbc article here)
If
you have green fingers and use products in your garden be careful what
you expose your pets to. Slug bait is particularly dangerous as there
is no antidote. Read the labels and use pet friendly products.
Do not allow pets access to sprayed areas until the pesticide has dried
completely. Granular products may have specific instructions for
watering the granules in and keeping the pets off the treated area for
24 hours or longer. Read the label to determine re-entry time. Because
animals can be exposed from eating a product or absorbing it through
their skin, take care that animals do not eat or lick a product and
that they do not enter an area until it is completely dry.
Cover up!
Sun worshipers are at particular risk of skin cancer especially those
that have pink skin, which is most likely if they have a white coat.
Protect them from the effects of the sun with a pet friendly suncream.
The ears of white cats are regularly damaged by sun burn. 
Those pesky parasites will soon be out in force. Ticks and fleas affect all dogs and cats in the uk, all are exposed to some degree. The season starts in spring and peaks in November just as the frosts arrive. It's time to make sure they have Frontline applied as it controls both ticks and fleas without putting poison into the bloodstream like most other products. Careful if you pull ticks off, its best to use an effective tick remover that does not leave the head behind. (ask at reception)
Rabbits are always at risk of fly strike but more so in the summer months. Fly strike is caused when fly maggots eat away the skin around the back end of rabbits. Check
their bottoms daily as the maggots develop in hours in the right
conditions. The best way to prevent this disease is to make sure they
never get diarrhoea or sit in wet bedding. Diarrhoea is almost always
as a result of poor diet (not enough hay, green veg, and to much dry
mix - only feed an egg cup a day of dry mix). See our fact sheet on
our website for advice on diet. We have a product available at the
surgery that stops maggots from developing on rabbits and recommend it
especially if you feel your rabbit may be at risk because of a dirty
bottom.
Myxomatosis and VHD
are deadly rabbit diseases and as they are mostly spread by biting
insects like mosquitos, your best course to prevent infection is
vaccination. Last year we had a severe outbreak of myxomatosis
directly related to an increase in mosquitos. We now recommend
vaccination every 6 months.
Grass seeds have a nasty habit of finding the space between the toes and causing an abscess. Check your dogs feet after a walk, in between all the toes and around the ears. We remove at least 10 grass seeds under anesthetic every summer. Impossible to avoid but not to difficult to spot and remedy in time if you always check their feet.
Kennel Cough
is more frequent in the summer months, usuall spread from dog to dog
when they meet. Groups of dogs at shows, in kennels and at training
classes are at higher risk. The vaccination we now use last for 12
months and helps prevent the problem but even vaccinated dogs can catch
the disease. Those with better immunity do not suffer as much and do
so for a shorter time.
Does your dog love water? Those that do tend to have a drink while they swim and we see a number of cases of diarrhoea every month caused by giardia, a bug affecting the intestine. You can't protect against giardia but if your pet gets bad diarrhoea we can do a cheap in house test to rule it out on a sample of faeces. A more worrying but less frequent water born bug is leptospirosis, usually in pools of shallow, stagnant, warm water that rodents may have access to. Vaccination is the best way to protect against this deadly disease.
Going on a walk?
Start early or late rather than going out in the midday heat and always
take that bottle of water along to let your dog have drink after
running his marathon. I find walking in woodland far easier on both me
and the dogs in Summer. If you have any suggestions for good walks I'd love to hear from you so we can add them to our website.
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