Summer:

The summer months are typically associated with vacation, fun, and relaxing lazy days. To ensure your summer with your pet follows these pleasurable images, there are many things to be aware of.

Whether you live in a very hot summer climate or a mild climate, any rise in temperature brings out the bugs. Manageable bugs such as fleas and mosquitoes can be tamed with sprays, shampoos, and diet. The Dog Bowl offers several options when it comes to preventing flea and mosquito problems with your pets ranging from sprays, shampoos, soaps, washable beds, and of course the raw food diet.

Other more serious insects are very risky and could be very harmful to your pet. Ticks are extremely dangerous to your pet, they carry lyme disease which is poses a lare threat not only to your pet, but to you as well. Lyme disease is actually a bacterial disease that is attributed to borrelia burgdorferi. Common symptoms are fever and rash, but it is best to prevent it all together! To ensure that you and your pet remain tick free, stay clear of areas with dense brush and shrubbery, especially in the spring and summer months. May, June and July are the month with the highest risk. This is prime breeding time for ticks, and you will be more likely to experience an unwelcome bite. If you have a pet with a long coat, make sure to thoroughly check their skin for ticks, and you may consider a good brush or bath after being in a woodsy area for an extended period of time. If you have a light colored pet, ticks are much easier to spot since they are dark. Make sure to remove them promptly from the skin. If you do find a tick, make sure you remove it outdoors, to prevent it from entering your house and attaching to you or your pet again. Ask your vet for other suggestions to prevent lyme disease, and tick bites.

Dehydration is also a common culprit for summer sickness in pets. Pets can get even more dehydrated than humans due to their coat thickness and length. If you plan on being outdoors, make sure to have some sort of clean, fresh portable water supply for your pet. Your pet cannot tell you they are thirsty, so you must remember to provide them with water, especially in high temperatures. The Dog Bowl also offers an assortment of cooling products for pets that help prevent dehydration and over-heating. These items are available both online and in the store.

Summertime should be a time to make wonderful memories with you and your pet, so please remember to take extra care of them in the summer months. Insects and heat are more threatening than they seem, so make sure your pet is healthy and comfortable. If you are planning on going on vacation sans the pets in the family, make sure you choose a good, credible place to board them, or hire an experienced, trustworthy pet-sitter. The Dog Bowl wishes you only the happiest summer months for you and your pet!