As excitement builds toward Monday’s nationwide solar eclipse, it won’t just be humans enjoying the rare phenomenon. So, are there any safety precautions you should take for your pets during the solar eclipse?
Live updates: Following along our total solar eclipse live blog
While experts have made it clear that the safest way to view the solar eclipse for humans is to wear special glasses in order to prevent vision loss while looking directly at the sun, pets don’t need the same eye protection.
“There’s really no reason to be concerned about that,” Melanie Monteiro, a pet safety expert who teaches pet first-aid classes and the author of “The Safe-Dog Handbook: A Complete Guide to Protecting Your Pooch, Indoors and Out,” told TODAY.com.
“Dogs and cats don’t normally look up into the sun, so you don’t need to get any special eye protection for your pets.”
However, while it’s not normal behavior for cats and dogs to look up at the sun, taking extra precautions certainly can’t hurt.
Pets and the eclipse
Do not try to get your pet to look at the eclipse, as doing so can damage their eyes. (Dogs and cats typically don’t look directly at the sun on their own.)
Otherwise, there’s no hard data about anything dangerous for pets during a solar eclipse, Michael San Filippo, a spokesperson for the American Veterinary Medical Association, told TODAY — though there have been stories about cows heading back into barns or chickens going to roost during the eclipse.
“Looking at evidence of the past, there’s no history of dogs showing up the day after an eclipse with pet blindness or anything like that,’’ he said.
Dr. Carly Fox, a veterinarian at Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, told the American Animal Hospital Association that she’s also never seen any documented reports of eclipse-related eye damage in pets.
The biggest risk to pets during the solar eclipse is bringing them to a place that will be crowded with people watching the eclipse.
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