By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter
Lim, a 31-year-old salaried man in Seoul, has two dogs to take care of. They have been with for more than six years now and are as precious to him as family.
Up to now, he had left his dogs at pet hospitals whenever he had to leave for summer vacation. However, this year, he has decided to take them with him.
Here are some of the most important tips for the hygienic care for your pet this summer. Dotted with humidity and sizzling temperatures, the weather can wreak havoc for those trying to keep their pets clean and, more importantly, healthy.
When you take your pets with you on your summer vacation, you should always have your pet on a lead so you can control it. Although your pet may mean the world to you, remember that it can show unpredictable behavior when encountering strangers. Also, be sure to always bring bags for pet excrement.
One of the things that most troubles people during the summer are mosquitoes. So please spray your pet with insect repellents that are especially made for repelling them. That way, you can prevent your pet from being attacked by mosquitoes, dust mites and fleas even when staying near forests during holiday travel.
Sizzling heat during the summer season can cause a pet to have heatstroke. Hence it is recommended that you avoid outdoor activities with your pet from noon to 3 p.m. If you are outside with your pet in the summer season, give your pet time to rest under shade and give it water every 20 minutes.
Conversely, the rainy season makes you stay indoors with your pet longer than usual, so it is important to rid your pets of worms as they can infect humans. Most of the worms cause skin diseases and they suck blood, playing the role of transferring disease from one person to another. There are two kinds of insect repellents: one that you can inject every three months and the other being topical, one that you can apply to your skin. These days, you can purchase a new insect repellent, which can be applied, to the back of your neck. Its release was met wide acclaim, drawing great enthusiasm from pet lovers.
``In the summer when the humidity and temperature go up, you should take more care of your pets’ health,’’ said Shin Seong-shik of the veterinary medicine department at Chonnam National University. ``You should take care with pet’s meals as well as the surrounding environment. Also you should inject insect repellant on a regular basis, hence protecting them from worms.’’
You should take with your pet’s food, as many of them are likely to catch diarrhea in summer due to the hot weather and lack of activities affecting regularity in both the stomach and intestines.
``Since food is highly nutritional, it can always gather mold when you take less care managing it. Get in to the habit of checking the smell and color of your pet’s meal before you feed it. Store pet food in airtight containers in cool places,’’ said Nah Seung-shik, a veterinarian of Bayer Health Care. ``Since it is easy for pets to get skin diseases in summer, always try to take care about the skin of your pets through frequent brushing and beauty care.’’