As the weather gets warmer we spend more time outdoors with our pets, here are my top three tips for helping to keep your pet safe and happy this summer!
1. Is your dog chipped and tagged?
As of last year it became the law for your dog to be microchipped and to be up to date with all you correct information, if your dog is chipped it's also worth checking every so often that it hasn't moved (your vet can do this!) and that all the contact information is correct.
It's also law for your dog to be tagged, both Lily and Sev wear an ID tag on both their collar and lead (possible slight overkill on my part but better safe than sorry!) which has my full address and two phone numbers incase they get separated from me. My favourite shops to buy tags from are We Love To Create and Simply Handmade Tags.
Wherever I go I always carry a collapsable water bowl and water for the dogs, I'm always a bit wary about letting them drink from bowls that are outside shops/cafes because you never know how long it's been there (more on that later!), ours is super old and i'm not sure where I bought it from but Beco do a really nice one that comes in a variety of colours.
I'm also a big fan of cooling mats and cool coats, these are brilliant for keeping your dog cool in the heat, Sev practically lived in his cool coat last summer, you simply soak them in water, wring them out and off you go! Ours is by Aquamat, it's expensive but definitely worth the investment - ours is about three years old now and is still good as new!
We also have a cool mat from Ancol which is really handy for on the go as it needs no soaking/water, ours contains gel that draws the heat away and keeps the dog cool for hours!
3. Act against parasites!
Protecting your pet against
pests and parasites is incredibly important all year round, it's important to
keep up to date with your flea/tick/worm treatment so speak to your vet! A recent survey by Pet Parasite Action *found
that lungworm worries dog owners most with 74% saying they are concerned about
this parasite. While 82% of dog owners are able to correctly identify that
lungworm could be fatal to their pets, 43% said they think dog lungworm is the
parasite that poses the greatest risk to human health, when actually it’s
harmless to people!
But it's not just worms
that are causing problems, it's also ticks! Ticks are most common during the
warmer weather and I always check the dogs after they're walked in case they
are carrying any unwanted guests! Another essential is definitely a tick
twister - these allow you to safely remove the tick (head and all!!) from your
pets! Over a third of the people asked in the survey say they are worried about
ticks but just 48% realise that ticks can cause fatalities in dogs because of
the diseases they transmit and only 28% recognise that ticks can carry Lyme
Disease which can also affect people!
The least worried about
parasite according to the survey is probably one of the most concerning. Just
15% say they were worried about roundworms and only 7% correctly say they think
roundworms could threaten human health. Yet if accidentally eaten, eggs from
the roundworm Toxocara can cause blindness or neurological disease, especially
in children.
One in four people don’t
realise their pet could have parasites but they might not be visible, and more
worryingly around 1 in 6 say that it’s been about a year since they last
treated their pet for ticks, lungworm or roundworm and despite concern about
its effects, 23% say that they don’t know when their pet was last treated for
lungworm. If you're concerned about treating your pets please give your vet a
call and they'll be able to ensure they're protected from parasites inside and
out. Also check out the Pet Parasite Action website for helpful,
easy to understand information :-)
Hopefully this is helpful to you all,
Thank you for reading!
Jaime, Lily & Sev xo
*1056 dog owners responded to the survey which was carried out in February 2017
This post is sponsored by Merial, all thoughts are my own
0 comments:
Post a Comment