Heat, Humidity, and Fireworks, Sucks For Your Dog

"Oh boy, heat and fireworks! My favorite!", said no dog ever. Our pooch (pictured above) doesn't seem to care too much about noises except the sound of food hitting her dish. But not all pets are alike. Some dogs are very sensitive to loud fireworks this time of year. Some dogs (and cats) get extremely stressed out.

Veterinarians warn that exposure to loud noises such as fireworks can put your pet in a state of distress and even create a bladder infection - especially for cats.

“What ends up happening is they get an infection in the bladder and their urethra gets spasms…they get a functional obstruction and that can be fatal for them.” ~ Dr. Natara Loose on Fox News.

if your dog or cat is a real "nervous Nelly" it may stop eating for a while which is also not good news.

The RSPCA recommends a few tips to keep your pets calm during the explosive night that is the 4th.

Walk your dog during the day
Turn up the music in the house to help drown out the fireworks noise
Close the curtains or blinds. Believe it or not, pets don't think fireworks are as cool as we do.

The other nugget of not-so-great news for your pets is the heat. An early look at Sioux Falls weather from the National Weather Service:

Sunday:

Mostly sunny and 88 degrees.

Monday:

Sunny with a high of 93 degrees.

Tuesday, July 4th: 30% chance of rain, otherwise sunny and 90 degrees.

Add fireworks to that heat and your dog is probably not going to have the best weekend.