How to Protect Your Family Pets From the Wildfire Smoke Damage

With the recent in Wildfires in Southern California, everyone in the area started to worry about their homes. The big wildfires like the Getty Fire, Woolsey Fire, Maria Fire and Saddleridge Fire have brought up a big concern about how family pets and wild animals are impacted. Smoke damage can hurts pets just as much as they do to people, if not more. The wildfire smoke can cause serious health problems for people with breathing or auto-immune issues, older adults and children. Imagine how your pets feel with smell and senses that are forty times greater than our own.

The American Veterinary Medical Associationinformed the public on looking out for signs that may be a threat to our pets caused by smoke.

Some signs to look out for in dogs and cats that may be affected by wildfire smoke:

• Coughing or gagging
• Difficulty breathing, including open mouth breathing and increased noise when breathing
• Eye irritation and excessive watering
• Inflammation of throat or mouth
• Nasal discharge
• Asthma-like symptoms
• Increased breathing rate
• Fatigue or weakness
• Disorientation or stumbling
• Reduced appetite and/or thirst

If you have pet birds, be extra cautious because birds are highly sensitive to the smoke.

To keep pets safe from wildfire smokes, keep pets indoor and only keep them in areas that have been cleaned and deodorized. If you are looking for a professional restoration company that handles smoke deodorization and cleaning, Allied Restoration is already working with your neighbors in the areas that have been affected by the recent Woolsey Wildfires and can help you out too!

If the air quality is reported to be below average, only let your dogs and cats outdoors when necessary for a quick bathroom break. If your pet animal like to dig or eat grass, be extra careful letting them outdoors. You want to avoid any intensive outdoor exercises with your pets until the smoke and dust has settled down. Clean the rooms that your pets are temporarily staying in and make sure there are no smoke particles or strong smoke odor.  If you are worried that the pets will leave an odor in the rooms, Allied Restoration also performs smell and odor removal.

Lastly, always have a pet evacuation kit like a kennel, food and medicine ready for emergency evacuations. Having a disaster restoration kit and preparedness plan for your family is the key to recovering from wildfire disasters.

You can visit our Getty Wildfire Smoke Service Page for more information.