Safeguarding Companion Animals from

Summer Heat and Pests

Source: Animal Protection Institute (API)

What are the dangers of taking a dog along while shopping?

Because many states allow only seeing eye or assistance dogs to be brought into stores or malls, some people take their dogs along but leave them in the car. This can be deadly.

A little heat outside the car can quickly make it very hot inside. On a summer's day of only 85 degrees, for example, even keeping the windows slightly open won't stop the inside temperature from climbing to 102 degrees in 10 minutes, to 120 degrees in 20 minutes. A dog whose body temperature rises to 107-108 degrees will within a very short time suffer irreparable brain damage -- or even death.

For a dog overcome by heat exhaustion, immediately soak him or her down with water and take to a veterinarian as soon as possible.

With its tips on prevention and treatment, the Animal Protection Institute's "Your Dog May Be Dying" Hot Car Flyer has proven to be a painless reminder that alerts someone of the dangers of leaving animals in the car while he or she is shopping. Whenever you see a parked car with animals inside, place the Hot Car Flyer under the windshield wiper. (If you see a child in the car, see the store manager; if the car owner cannot be found, call the Fire Department.) Your own lifesaving packet of Hot Car Flyers is available from API.

How can companion animals be protected from direct sunlight at home?

Animals kept indoors are usually smart enough to move out of the sunlight, but don't forget that fish and other animals in fish bowls or aquariums need your help in avoiding the sun. And while reptiles love sunshine, they still need a shady place to which they can escape. If you want to give your bird some fresh air, partly cover the bird's cage if you take it outside.

Long-haired animals may appear to be suffering in the summer's heat, but don't give them a "haircut" so they'll be cooler. That long coat helps protect from heat and insects, and retains cooling water after a refreshing swim or wetting down with the water hose.

Short-haired, light-colored, or pink-skinned dogs and cats can get sunburned, so inspect for sunburn regularly. You can put sunblock on your cat's ears, but be aware that your cat may quickly wash it off.

Most important, don't let your companion animals dehydrate. Have cool fresh water available at all times. If your dog likes to tip over his water dish, dig a shallow hole and partially bury it so it's untippable.)

Should companion animals come along on vacation?

Although it's probably not the best idea to take a companion animal along, it really depends on what you and your animal decide. For detailed travel tips, see API's Traveling with Your Companion Animal Fact Sheet.

What type of treats should I give my dogs during the hot summer?

What better way to cool your pup during the hot summer months than with an all natural, tasty, frozen treat! Now you can, with this quick, easy recipe.

Things You’ll Need:

* 1 banana
* 1/2 cup creamy all natural peanut butter
* 1/4 cup ground peanuts
* 1/4 cup wheat germ
* mixing bowl

Step1 - Peel and slice your banana. Add to mixing bowl.
Step2 - Add peanut butter. Mix well.
Step3 - Stir in wheat germ. Mix well.
Step4 - Chill in the refridgerator or freezer for one hour.
Step5 - With dampened hands, mold into desired shape.
Step6 - Roll in the ground peanuts.
Step7 - Wrap and store in refridgerator or freezer.

DOG-GONE GOOD COOKIES
1 jar (3 1/2 ounces) baby food - liver or beef
1/3 cup wheat germ
2/3 cup powdered skim milk

Mix ingredients and drop by the tablespoon onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes. (Let cool before giving to your dog).

ROVER’S REWARDS
3/4 cup hot meat juices
1/3 cup margarine
1/2 cup powdered milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 egg, beaten
3 cups whole wheat flour

In a large bowl, pour meat juices over margarine. Stir in powdered milk, salt, sugar, and egg. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Knead mixture 3 to 4 minutes adding flour if necessary to make a very stiff dough. Pat or roll to half-inch thickness, and cut out biscuits with a dog biscuit shaped or other cutter. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes. Allow to cool and dry hard.

THE KING OF DOG COOKIES
1 1/2 Cups cooked rice, oatmeal or other whole grain cereal
1/4 cup whole or skim milk powder
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup whole wheat flour, rye flour or cornmeal (change around for variety)
Add any or all of the following to taste:
Grated cheese
Nutritional yeast
Fresh garlic or garlic powder
Oregano
Fennel seed

Combine all ingredients into a firm ball. add milk if more moisture is needed. Roll the dough out. Cut into your dog’s favorite cookie shape. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until the cookies are crispy. Cool and serve.

CRUNCHY SNACKS
These snack are good for allergy-prone dogs:

Grind the dry dog food that your dog tolerates into a powder. Add a pinch of garlic to the powdered food. Add enough water to the mixture to form into balls. Place balls on cookie sheet, and bake at 250 degrees until the balls are crunchy.

Here are a few more.

DR RAY’S TREATS
Boil a calf’s liver until cooked. Dry with a paper towel. cut into fingertip-size pieces and place on a cookie sheet so they do not touch each other. Place sheet in the freezer and remove when the treats are frozen. Place portions into plastic zipper bags and keep frozen until needed. Feed to your dog, either frozen or thawed.

CANINE CARROT CAKE
(Mom says this is good enough for people too!)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon soy flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup chopped, unsalted peanuts
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup honey
1 cup ground or grated carrots
Combine flours, baking soda, and peanuts. Mix in egg, oil, vanilla, honey and carrots until well-combined. Pour mixture into a cake pan and bake at 325 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

K-9 PEANUT BUTTER AND CARROT BIRTHDAY CAKE
1 cup white or while-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup honey (optional)
1 egg
Mix the dry ingredients. Add the remaining ingredient and mix quickly. Bake in a greased ring mold at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Frost with low-fat cottage cheese and decorate witcrrot pieces. Store in the refrigerator.

HOMEMADE DOGGIE BOLOGNA
2 pounds of hamburger
2 tablespoons curing salt
1/8 teaspoon galic powder
1/4 cup minced dried onion
2 teaspoons liquid smoke
1 cup water

How often should a companion animal get a bath in the summertime?

Body odor is a clear signal that your companion animal needs a bath. Bathing your cat or dog will keep away odor, parasites, and skin irritations. Rinse thoroughly to remove all soap which can cause itching and hair loss.

What about pests?

Fleas and ticks are at their worst in the summer. Fortunately, prevention and treatment is fairly simple.

How often should companion animals be checked for ticks or fleas?

Companion animals should be checked at least once a week for ticks, fleas, or skin irritations that could lead to serious problems. If a tick is discovered, don't twist it out with thumb and forefinger or the head will break off and stay under the skin to do further damage. To remove it, use a pair of tweezers as close to the skin as possible.

Is it enough to kill any fleas found on a companion animal?

As little as one adult flea on a dog or cat means a major infestation. Only 5% of the flea population is in the adult stage. The other 95% consists of pupae, larvae, and eggs -- that "salt" in the salt & pepper residue visible in a companion animal's bedding or after combing. The "pepper" is flea excrement.

The flea has been around for about 40 million years. It is such a tenacious pest because it reproduces explosively. One female flea can lay more than 800 eggs in her six-week lifetime. An egg can become an adult flea in less than three weeks, ready to reproduce. Within only 30 days, just 10 fleas can produce 250,000 children and grandchildren.

The flea's diet consists of blood -- animal or human, the flea doesn't care. Each flea feeds about once every hour, so an animal with only 25 fleas could be bitten as much as 600 times in one day.

Besides disease --fleas and the rats they lived on transmitted the bubonic plague, or Black Death, to humans in the 14th century, wiping out a quarter of the European population -- fleas carry other parasites, such as tapeworms.

An excess of fleas can make a your companion animal anemic. The constant scratching can cause hair loss. Allergies to fleas can cause hot spots. Animals can also develop large open, oozing wounds due to flea bites. All of which is dangerous to a companion animal's health and expensive to treat.

What is necessary to rid a companion animal of fleas?

The fine teeth of a flea comb will pull most of the adults and eggs off a companion animal. Combing your animal regularly will quickly determine whether or not fleas are present (and incidentally it will help you and your companion animal form a stronger bond).

Flea shampoos are an effective means for killing fleas on a companion animal, but they are species specific. (Never use a shampoo meant for dogs on cats.) Follow the instructions carefully. For best results, start lathering at the neck and work back to the tail. Be sure to soap the tail, legs, and underbelly completely. When done, rinse your companion animal as thoroughly as possible and towel dry.

Flea shampoos are better than flea powders or sprays or dips, since when properly rinsed no flea toxins remain to make your companion animal ill.

A flea collar may help kill fleas, but it's little more than a poison strap worn by a companion animal. Also, its effectiveness against fleas deteriorates over time and it must be changed regularly.

After treatment, prevention is necessary. Even immediate killing of grown fleas is ineffective because flea eggs or pupae can stay "on hold" for months, growing to maturity when conditions for them "improve." You must get rid of them now, both inside and, if your animals are indoor/outdoor, outside as well.

How can fleas be prevented inside the house

Vacuum regularly. Because fleas thrive on the contents of the vacuum cleaner bag, sprinkle some flea powder on the floor or carpet and vacuum that up too. Dispose of the bag after vacuuming.

Flea bomb every room in the house. Use a flea bomb that contains an Insect Growth Regulator (IGR), which confuses flea larvae so they never grow to be adults. Look for the chemical name Precor. IGRs prevent flea larvae from reaching the pupae stage in your carpet for up to seven months, and are non-toxic to animals and humans. Follow the instructions on the can carefully.

Once the house and companion animals are clean, keep fleas away through preventative medicines such as Program® or Advantage, available at your veterinarian's.

Program® is a six-month regimen for your animal, of one pill or liquid supplement a month, that inhibits the growth of flea larvae into adults. Program® is ideal if your animals always stay indoors.

Advantage is a cream applied directly to the skin on the back of the neck for cats, between the shoulder blades (and, for larger dogs, on the top of the rump) for dogs. In a day or so, Advantage spreads over the whole body, then dries to form a matrix over the animal. It will kill 98% to 100% of the adult fleas within 24 hours.

Program® and Advantage are comparatively priced at $30 to $40 for a six-month supply.

How can fleas be prevented outside the house?

Fleas and ticks love tall grass so mow and edge the yard well to eliminate this perfect breeding ground.

Spray your yard. Precor breaks down in sunlight so you can't use an IGR. You'll need a strong, and probably toxic, chemical. Read the instructions carefully. What's heavily toxic to fleas will kill even beneficial insects, and may harm companion animals or family if exposed.

Spray outside at dusk or later, to avoid killing bees and other beneficial insects. Keep the spray below knee-level, because fleas can jump only nine inches high.

When you're through spraying, wash out your equipment thoroughly. Wash your hands and change your clothes if they have become wet in the process. Keep your companion animals off the lawn for about 24 hours or at least until it has dried. Take care in how you dispose of the leftover bottles and cartons.

Recently, an all-natural outdoor flea control spray was developed that kills fleas within 24 hours and keeps working up to a month. The secret ingredient is beneficial nematodes, micro-organisms that prey on pre-adult fleas. They're so safe, children and companion animals can play in a yard that's just been sprayed with them. They exist only until they run out of prey. When all the fleas in the yard have been eliminated, the beneficial nematodes cease to work and biodegrade. It's important to spray with nematodes monthly, and be sure to keep them moist (not wet).

Another remedy is diatomaceous earth, a natural product consisting of fossilized one-celled plants called diatoms. While harmless to animals, this talc-like material scratches the waxy "skin" of insects, causing dehydration and death. Buy it from an organic gardening supply -- do not get the diatomaceous earth that is sold for swimming pool filters -- and apply as a dust all over your yard about once every couple of weeks. You can also use it inside the house.

Will these steps take care of the flea problem?

The above will only take care of the immediate problem. You must break the larval/flea cycle. To kill any dormant eggs or larvae, repeat the above steps in about two weeks. From then on, occasional maintenance should ensure a summer free of fleas for companion animals.

Copyright © 2001 Animal Protection Institute. All rights reserved.