Learn the Signs of Heatstroke

On a sunny day with temperatures at or above 70° Fahrenheit, most people know that the temperature inside their car can soar to intolerable levels for their dog. But even outdoors in a non-shaded area, the heat can quickly get to your pooch and cause serious complications.


Dogs do not perspire the way humans do; in fact, the only sweat glands that they have are on the pads of their feet. Dogs pant to cool themselves and also use a temperature exchange called convection to cool their skin. Both panting and convection cool the body by exchanging the warm body temperatures for the cooler air outside. If the surrounding air is not considerably cooler than the animals' body temperature - as in the case of a hot, stuffy automobile - the cooling system will not work and heatstroke can occur.

What are the signs of heatstroke?

• Signs of heatstroke include:
• Increased heart rate
• Excessive panting
• Increased salivation
• Bright red tongue
• Red or pale gums
• Thick, sticky saliva
• Depression
• Weakness
• Dizziness
• Vomiting (sometimes with blood)
• Diarrhea

As heatstroke progresses, it can cause seizures, coma, cardiac arrest, and death.

What should I do if my dog gets heatstroke?

Remove your dog from the hot area immediately. While transporting him immediately to your veterinarian, lower his temperature by placing cool, wet towels over the back of the neck, under the forelimbs, and in the groin area. If possible, increase air movement around him with a fan. Be careful, however, as using very cold water can actually be counterproductive. CAUTION: Cooling too quickly and especially allowing his body temperature to become too low can cause other life-threatening medical conditions. The rectal temperature should be checked every 5 minutes. Once the body temperature is 103ºF, the cooling measures should be stopped and your dog should be dried thoroughly and covered so he does not continue to lose heat. Even if your dog appears to be recovering, take him to your veterinarian as soon as possible, he should still be examined since he may be dehydrated or have other complications.

Allow free access to water if your dog can drink on his own. Do not try to force-feed cold water; as he may inhale it and could choke.

How can heatstroke be prevented?

• Keep pets with predisposing conditions like heart disease, obesity, older age, or breathing problems cool and in the shade. Even normal activity for these pets can be harmful. 
• Provide access to water at all times. 
• Do not leave your pet in a hot parked car even if you're in the shade or will only be gone a short time. The temperature inside a parked car can quickly reach up to 140 degrees. 
• Make sure outside dogs have access to shade. 
• On a hot day, restrict exercise and don't take your dog jogging with you. Too much exercise when the weather is very hot can be dangerous. 
• Do not muzzle your dog. 
• Avoid places like the beach and especially concrete or asphalt areas where heat is reflected and there is no access to shade. 
• Wetting down your dog with cool water or allowing him to swim can help maintain a normal body temperature. 

Move your dog to a cool area of the house. Air conditioning is one of the best ways to keep a dog cool, but is not always dependable. To provide a cooler environment, freeze water in soda bottles, or place ice and a small amount of water in several resealable food storage bags, then wrap them in a towel or tube sock. Place them on the floor for your pet to lay on.

You can prevent your pet from suffering heatstroke. Use common sense and think of what it might feel like to wear a fur jacket (that cannot be removed) on a hot summer day.

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Understanding the Tick Life Cycle

By Jennifer Kvamme, DVM


Summertime is prime time for blood-sucking ticks, and your pets are walking targets for these arachnids (related to spiders and mites) to attach to and feed from. In order to prevent ticks and the potential diseases they carry, it helps to understand how these creatures develop.

There are two broad classifications for the more than 850 species of ticks. They are classed by body structure: soft ticks and hard ticks. Ticks in the Ixodidae family have a hard outer covering, called a scutum. Soft ticks – those without a scutum – belong to the Argasidae family. The most common ticks that prey on pets are the hard bodied ticks. Soft ticks are more common in the Southwest and are typically discovered in the ears of pets, where the skin in thinner.

FOUR LIFE STAGES

The majority of hard ticks require three different hosts to complete their development. During this development, ticks go through four stages of life. These stages are egg, larvae (or seed tick), nymph, and adult.

Generally, adult female hard ticks breed while on the host animal and then drop to the ground to lay eggs. A female lays several thousand eggs at a time, which will eventually hatch into the larval stage, known as seed ticks. At this stage of life, these small ticks (about 1/8-inch in size) have six legs.

FEEDING BEHAVIORS

Ticks can’t jump, so they must find ways to attach to their hosts. They will use blades of grass and other vegetation to elevate themselves to the height where they can easily grasp onto passing animals such as small rodents or birds. Proximate biochemical signals, such as rising carbon dioxide levels emitted by a warm blooded mammal, alert the ticks to passing hosts.

This procedure is called "questing," and ticks use these behaviors to find their first host for an initial blood meal. After filling with blood over several days, the seed ticks fall to the ground again, where they molt (shed their outer skins) and become eight-legged nymphs.

The nymph will then lie in wait for a second host to attach to and engorge on blood. The nymphs prefer a larger animal as a host, such as a raccoon or possum. Following engorgement, nymphs drop to the ground where they molt yet again to finally become adult ticks. The adult ticks then go on a hunt for a third, even larger host, such as a deer or dog, where they are able to feed and then breed, resulting in reproduction (i.e., eggs).

COMPLETING THE CYCLE

Depending on the species of tick, the entire life cycle can take from two months to years to complete. There are some species of ticks that only require one host (or sometimes two) to complete their life cycle. Hard ticks will typically lay eggs on the ground in protected areas during the spring. The brown dog tick is the exception in that it may lay its eggs indoors. As ambient temperature and moisture levels rise, eggs hatch into larvae. Larvae feed and molt into nymphs during late summer.

Nymphs will be inactive during winter and then start feeding again in the spring. After feeding and molting into adults through the summer months, the ticks spend the fall season feeding and breeding. Males will die off, while the females survive through winter and lay their eggs again the next spring.

Soft ticks differ from hard ticks in that they will develop through several nymph stages, slowly increasing in size until a final molt results in the adult. Their life cycles can take much longer than hard ticks, up to several years in duration. Soft ticks are even known to be able to survive long periods of time without access to a blood meal from a host.

No matter the species or type of tick you encounter on your pet, it’s best to remove them carefully and completely. Know how to remove a tick safely before attempting it, as a poorly conducted removal can cause damage – to you and/or your pet.

If you live an in area where ticks are prevalent, or if you are going to be taking your pet to a location that is known for ticks (e.g., wooded areas and open, grassy areas), protect your pet by applying a tick collar, a spot-on, or a spray to prevent ticks from making a meal out of your pet this summer.

Even with tick repellants, make sure to do a full inspection of your pet whenever s/he has been outside in an area known for harboring ticks. Vigilance is the best protection against tick borne diseases.

Understanding the Flea Life Cycle | petMD

By Jennifer Kvamme, DVM

When it comes to eliminating fleas from your pet and from your home, there are some key things to consider. First, it is very important to be familiar with and understand the life cycle of the flea when you are trying to eradicate their presence completely.

There are four stages in the life cycle of a flea: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Depending on the environmental temperature and humidity levels, the total life cycle will take anywhere from a couple weeks to many months. Optimal conditions for fleas are between 70-85°F and 70 percent humidity.

Eggs

The beginning of the life cycle occurs when an adult female flea lays eggs following a blood meal from the host (e.g., your pet). Blood is necessary for the adult flea to reproduce. These eggs are small, white objects (slightly smaller than a grain of sand) that are laid in the pet’s fur in bunches of about 20. A single adult female can lay about 50 eggs every day.

The eggs will fall off your pet as s/he moves, allowing them to be disbursed throughout the environment where your pet spends his or her time. Eggs represent about one-half (50 percent) of the entire flea population present in your home at any given time.

Eggs take anywhere from two days to two weeks to develop, hatching when environmental conditions are just right for them. If temperatures are cold and dry, the eggs will take longer; if temperatures are warm and humidity levels are high, the eggs will hatch at a faster rate. Larvae then emerges as the next life stage.

Larvae

The emerging larvae are blind and will avoid being out in the light. They develop over several weeks by eating pre-digested blood (known as flea “dirt”) that adult fleas pass, along with other organic debris in the environment.

In appearance, flea larvae can be up to ¼-inch long and are white (almost see-through) and legless. Larvae make up about 60 percent of the flea population in the environment. If conditions are favorable, the larvae will spin cocoons in about 5-20 days of hatching from their eggs. This leads to the next life stage, called the cocoon or pupae stage.

Pupae

The pupae stage of the flea life cycle accounts for less than 10 percent of the flea population in your household. This cocoon stage is the last developmental stage before the adult flea emerges. The cocoon protects the pupae for several days or weeks before the adult flea emerges. If environmental conditions are not right for emergence, the cocoon can protect the developing flea for months, and in some cases, years.

Cocoons have a sticky outer coating that allows them to hide deep in the carpeting and not be easily removed by light vacuuming or sweeping. The cocoon also serves to protect the developing adults from chemicals.

The adult flea will not emerge until the presence of a potential host is made obvious – by vibrations, rising levels of carbon dioxide, and body heat. This may be triggered by your pet walking by, or people moving in the house, alerting the flea to emerge from its cocoon to feed.

Adult Fleas

Once a flea has emerged from the cocoon, it will need to begin feeding from a host within a few hours. Shortly after the first meal, adult fleas will breed and begin laying eggs within a few days. Female fleas are not able to lay eggs until they obtain a blood meal.

New adult fleas have a flat bodied appearance and are very small and dark in color. Once they have had a chance to feed off your pet, they will become larger and lighter in color, taking on the more recognizable flea shape. Adult fleas account for less than 5 percent of the entire flea population in a home. They spend the majority of their time living on the host while they feed, breed, and lay eggs, and can live anywhere from a couple of weeks to several months on the host animal.

Eliminating Fleas

Use your knowledge of the flea life cycle to eliminate an infestation. Treat the environment properly by vacuuming regularly for several weeks and thoroughly washing bedding and toys in hot soapy water to remove eggs, larvae, and pupae. Remember to seal and remove vacuum bags after a cleaning session. You can even encourage faster emergence of the remaining pupae with a humidifier and an increase in the home temperature. Once all the hibernating pupae have emerged, you can make sure they are all destroyed. The household can be (cautiously) treated with sprays and foggers.

Treat the adult fleas living on your pet with shampoos, sprays, dips, or spot-on medications. If you have any questions or concerns, especially in regards to your pet’s health or age, your veterinarian can help you make the best decision for treating your pet.

Fleas can be difficult to eliminate, but if you are vigilant and use the correct chemicals in a safe and effective manner, you will be victorious. Just be sure to treat all the areas where your pet spends time, including the car and yard.

via Understanding the Flea Life Cycle | petMD.