PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — West Michigan veterinarians are reminding people to take precautions to protect their pet from the warm weather.
The Whitecaps are hosting Dog Day at the ballpark Wednesday evening.
Vets say the evening is a good time to take your dog out as temperatures start to cool off but you should still take precautions. A heat advisory across West Michigan this week hasn’t gone unnoticed by Jayanna Carter and her dog Gypsy.
“Found the shade. Found a good spot for her to chill out here,” Carter said.
She took her dog to the park before the hottest temperatures of the day and was taking precautions to keep her safe.
“I’ve got a travel water bowl in my car and every once and a while we’re gonna go over there and fill it on up. She’s only been out for probably like 15, 20 minutes so far,” Carter said.
She looks for signs of heat exhaustion and checks the temperature of where the dog is walking.
“Every once in a while, I check in, doing a hand check on the pavement. I try to keep her more in the grass and the wood chips just off the pavement actually,” Carter said.
Veterinarians at BluePearl Pet Hospital in Grand Rapids have been getting more calls asking about the heat.
“We really want to be mindful of the fact that when they’re outside they can overheat really easily dogs don’t sweat like people do and so they have to pant to be able to get some of that heat off,” BluePearl Veterinarian Christine Swanson said.
Swanson wants to remind people to be strategic about when you take your dog out and look for warning signs of heat stroke.
“It can be not just panting but panting that they can’t stop where they’re becoming really lethargic very tired and not responding to you and getting up the way they usually would,” Swanson explained. “Sometimes we can see vomiting and the worst-case scenario those bright red lips and lining of their mouth can start to turn more purple when they’re not getting oxygen to their tissues the way they really need to.”
You should also be careful getting to your destination with your furry friend.
“Just like when we worry about little kids stuck in a car. Even on just a warm day it doesn’t take just a couple minutes before that car can heat up so much that they get overheated. Same things for dogs but especially in the severe heat that we’re seeing,” Swanson said.
Other animals kept inside need to be properly attended to as well.
“Speaking about kitties as well, you want to be careful because although they may not be outside we want to be cautious if we’re not having air conditioning they’re able to have places to get out of the heat,” Swanson said.
The game between the Whitecaps and the Dragons will get underway around 6:30 tonight.
