For National Pet Week, it's important to remember not to forget about your pets' safety and comfort in the event your area gets hit with severe weather. Know how your pets react and how to help them.
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00:00This is National Pet Week and with severe weather ahead, Dr. Michael Bailey, the President-elect of the American Veterinarian Medical Association, is here to help keep pets safe through the spring and summer months.
00:14And thanks for joining us this morning, Dr. Bailey. Now, what are the biggest weather-related risks to pets that most owners need to think about?
00:24Well, thank you for having me. Probably one of the biggest risks that we need to consider is the fact that pets do not understand what's happening when bad weather arrives.
00:34So if you have things like thunderstorms, they many times are going to be terrified by the thunderstorms and you may not fully understand why they're acting the way they are.
00:43So we need to kind of make them feel comfortable. We need to be sure that they know that they are in a safe place.
00:50Do not let your pet off-leash outside during a storm because they may run away.
00:55So we need to be sure that we're always protecting them.
00:58The other thing is, if they do run away, can they be found?
01:02So make sure that you have a chip implanted in your pet and that it is registered so that if your pet runs away, they can be found and identified and eventually returned to you.
01:13And you talk about a safe place for your pets. A lot of times we have to seek shelter when tornadoes or hurricanes come through.
01:19So if you actually are either needing to evacuate or go to those shelters, what should you do to prepare your pets?
01:25You need to pre-plan. Just like for yourself, you should pre-plan for your pet.
01:31So find shelters that will accept pets. Many shelters will.
01:35If you do not have a shelter that will accept pets, do you have friends or family where you can transfer your pet to during that time if things come up?
01:43I live in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and we just had very heavy windstorms and nobody expected those.
01:50So you have to prepare for things even if you're not expecting them.
01:53And then remember, pets need to have water, particularly during hot weather.
01:58And that comes down to be about 20 ounces or two cups of water per 20 pounds.
02:04So you want to have water set aside so that they can get adequate water.
02:09You don't want them drinking from that water you see out the window because you don't know what contaminants are in it.
02:15And if pets are stressed by loud weather events like thunderstorms, you mentioned that before, how do they act?
02:21And again, what else can we do to help them?
02:24Well, remember, pets are individuals just like people are.
02:27But for the most part, they show their stress by pacing, by wandering around, maybe even by howling.
02:33And in really severe circumstances, they may get destructive to their surroundings.
02:38That means tearing up pillows, the walls.
02:41So you want to be sure that they know you're there.
02:43If they are comfortable lying on you, sitting on your bed, let them do that.
02:49And if they're pacing around, don't worry about that so much.
02:53If you have access to music and whatnot, turn on some music, classical music, reggae music, even blues music.
03:01Dogs seem to love that.
03:02And it helps calm them down.
03:04So give them something that makes it so that their auditory features, their ears, are having some really pleasant tones during that weather event.
03:16And we often think of the active weather.
03:18But non-active weather, such as hot, sunny days, can have a lot of impacts too.
03:22So what should you do to prepare your pets for summer?
03:26Well, it's interesting.
03:27Those hot, sunny days, when we want to be outside playing, can actually be among the most detrimental.
03:33First of all, if you have a very light-skinned dog, white hair, very pink nose, they are very prone to sunburn.
03:40And that can lead to skin cancer, just like in people.
03:43And then, as I've already mentioned, they need a lot of water.
03:47Remember, they perspire or transpire through their respiratory system.
03:52They can't do it from their skin because of all that fur.
03:56So you need to be sure they have a plentiful supply of cool, fresh water so that they can keep themselves cool and get them out of the sun.
04:04Do not have them out in extended periods.
04:06And probably one of the things that people don't think about, they want to go out and walk and run with their pets and it's 90 or 100 degrees outside, their pads can be burnt by the hot asphalt or concrete.
04:18So either let them walk on grass so that they're not walking those hot surfaces or wait until it's cooled down during the day.
04:25Dr. Michael Bailey, president-elect of the American Veterinary Medical Association.
04:31Thanks for joining us here in AccuWeather Early.
04:33Great, great information.
04:35And we hope you have a great Mother Day's weekend.
04:37Thank you very much.