With temperatures climbing back up into the 90s, it’s a good time to review safety tips with pets.

Dr. Christy Fields with Companion Veterinary Clinic of Greene County says humans don’t tend to think of concrete sidewalks as being a heat-related issue when it gets hot outside, but your dog’s paws can be susceptible to injury.

“It will cause blistering and the thick skin that’s on the bottom of their foot is kind of like a callus on our foot. So it gives some protection, but once that blisters up it’ll actually sluff or fall off, and then they’ll have a raw area on the bottom of their foot and it takes a very long time for that to grow back and heal, and it can get infected. It is really hard to deal with medically. We can just do pain meds and antibiotics. But yup, they blister just like we do and it’s very painful.”     

Dr. Fields recommends if you want to walk your canine friend, it is better to take them on grass or walk them early in the morning before it gets too hot outside.