You may be aware of the side effects the sun may have on your skin, but have you ever considered your pet? If you have a dog or an outdoor animal, their skin is as susceptible to harmful UV rays as ours. Animals get sunburns, sun poisoning, and skin cancer too. We must protect our pets the way we would defend ourselves.
How Do We Know?
For pets, sunburn can be seen as red skin or hair loss. The most common areas for sunburn include the nose, the tip of the ears, skin around the lips, inside the legs or abdomen, or anywhere else on the body that maybe have thin hair (The VIN Dermatology Consultants, 2020).
What Should I Buy?
You should purchase a fragrance-free sunscreen that contains UVA and UVB barriers. In equivalency to human protection, this would be SPF 15 or 30 (The VIN Dermatology Consultants, 2020). There are some sunscreens explicitly created for pets, such as Petkin. Baby sunscreen and human sunscreens may work, but none with any ingestion warnings on the bottle, as this is not safe for your pet. It should be applied about 20 minutes before letting the pet outside and then every 4-6 hours after that (Meyers, 2023).
Where Can I Buy It?
You can purchase dog sunscreen in-store at popular pet shops such as Petco or PetSmart or websites such as Chewy or Amazon. Read the ingredients, make sure it is a pet-safe brand, and begin protecting your pet!
References
Meyers, H. (2023, May 31). Dog Sunscreen: What to know about dog Sunburn protection. American Kennel Club. https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/do-dogs-need-sunscreen/#:~:text=You%20should%20apply%20sunscreen%20about,after%20your%20dog%20goes%20swimming.
The VIN Dermatology Consultants. (2020, March 31). Sunscreen for pets. Sunscreen for Dogs. https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952515
