Once again, wildfire smoke is causing toxic air pollution across large swaths of North America and around the world. So just as you’d monitor and protect children from the negative health effects of wildfire air pollution, be sure to do the same for dogs and cats, according to Link Welborn, DVM, DABVP, chief veterinary officer at Covetrus and veterinarian at Temple Terrace Animal Hospital in Tampa Bay, Florida.

“Wildfire smoke can irritate the pets’ eyes and their airways just like it does in people,” he said. “For the most part, mammals are mammals, so there isn’t that much difference as far as the impact on the individual.”

For instance, the small particles in the smoke can inflame the lungs, trigger coughing and worsen existing health conditions. Particle pollution from sources like wildfires is linked to adverse health effects in humans ranging from increasing risk of premature births to causing or worsening lung and heart disease and shortening lifespans, according to the American Lung Association .

Some dogs are prone to a collapsing windpipe or bronchitis, while asthma is not unusual in cats, Dr. Welborn noted.

“So certainly, to the extent that they have a preexisting condition, that can be worsened if it’s respiratory or cardiac in nature,” he said. “And then even a dog or a cat that’s not affected by another illness can be affected if it’s prolonged and a significant level of exposure.”

Since wildfires are only expected to intensify due to climate change , it’s important to know what we can do to keep our pets safe.

Symptoms Of Respiratory Distress In Pets

Signs of respiratory distress from wildfire smoke and air pollution are similar in dogs and cats: coughing and rapid or labored breathing, and a reluctance to exercise.

“Cats are a little bit different in that they tend to hide illness — and they literally hide under the bed, for instance,” Dr. Welborn said. “So they can be a little bit more of a challenge to make sure they’re appropriately assessed. If they’re not feeling well, often they’re not out for us to be able to see that. And certainly, the other thing with cats is that open mouth breathing or panting in a cat is almost never normal and that should be treated as an emergency in comparison to dogs, where obviously panting is a completely normal activity.”

If a dog or cat is coughing a little bit but it resolves quickly, it’s not a big deal. But if there’s a persistent cough, if they have obvious difficulty in breathing, if they’re unusually lethargic or just aren’t improving after exposure to the smoke has stopped, it’s time to call your veterinarian, according to Dr. Welborn.

“The other thing is that if they have blue or pale gums or they collapse, then those are certainly reasons to believe that there might be a true emergency,” he said.

In order to notice changes that can signal a problem, it’s important to know what “normal” is for an individual pet. For example, evaluate what a normal respiratory rate and normal rhythm for their breathing is while your pet is resting. Count the number of inhales and exhales in 60 seconds while gently resting your hand on your pet.

Also look at your pet’s gums while they’re healthy to know the regular color – particularly for pets with pigment in their gums.

For pets with pigment in their gums, such as a black dog with black gums, you can also check their tongue for color changes; just as when a dog isn’t getting enough oxygen from heatstroke , the tongue will change from bubblegum pink to a bit red or even grey, purple or blue.

“The other area that you can look at is the conjunctiva, the tissue on the inside of the eyelid,” Dr. Welborn said. “So if you can gently pull down on the lower eyelid, you could see kind of a pink mucus membrane there. That’s a good place to look at because that’s rarely pigmented. So even in pets where their gums are completely pigmented, you can look in that area.”

Pets At Higher Risk From Breathing Wildfire Air Pollution

Puppies and kittens are a bigger concern than adult dogs and cats. At the other end of the spectrum, senior pets with preexisting respiratory or cardiac conditions also run a higher risk of being negatively affected by wildfire air pollution.

Additionally, dogs and cats with flat faces also require more attention.

“Definitely brachiocephalic breeds — bulldogs, pugs, Boston terriers, Persian cats — they often don’t have normal respiratory capacity due to the anatomical structure, so they’re certainly at greater risk,” Dr. Welborn said.

How To Protect Pets From Wildfire Air Pollution

When it comes to wildfire air pollution, precautions with pets are similar to precautions for people — primarily limiting outdoor activity, according to Dr. Welborn.

“As opposed to going outside and exercising their dog, they’d want to stay in and just go out for brief potty breaks, then right back inside,” he said. “And obviously keeping the windows closed and air conditioning with filtration.”

He noted that MERV 13 filters for air conditioners filter out of a lot of particles, including small ones.

“The higher the number, the smaller the particles that are filtered out, and 13 seems to be a number that’s considered to be sufficient to filter out a lot of particles,” he said. “If you’re going to Home Depot or Lowe’s or whatever to buy air filters for your air conditioner, it’s just literally choosing one that has a higher filtration capacity. They’re readily available and they may be a little bit more expensive, but certainly not as expensive as purchasing an additional filtration unit.”

While there are people on Instagram who like to post photos of dogs and cats in N95 masks made for humans, it’s not a good idea, according to Dr. Welborn.

“Obviously the fit is really important for those masks and there’s almost no way you’re going to be able to get them to fit properly on a pet,” he said. “So it’s not going to be effective, and in addition to that, it’s going to be really stressful for the pet.”

Instead, he recommends increasing enrichment activities indoors to keep pets from being bored while stuck inside.

“While it might not be as strenuous as what you could do outside, even just using things like food puzzles or doing training sessions or some sort of interactive toys, that type of thing can help reduce boredom and the potential for destructive behavior,” he said.

As a practicing veterinarian for over 40 years, Dr. Welborn has had “quite a number” of patients with exposure to smoke and smoke inhalation over the years — both from wildfires and housefires.

“Most of them are happy endings — with appropriate treatment, they’re OK,” he said. “In some cases, there’s some residual damage and they may wind up with limitations as far as their strenuous activity and those types of things, but in most cases, the outcome is good.”

Still, he stressed that avoidance is the best thing to do.

“As I mentioned, to a large extent, mammals are mammals,” he said. “So if you wouldn’t think that it’s healthy for your child or a family member with asthma to be exposed to an environment that has smoke in it, then it’s probably not a good idea for your dog or cat.”