Tips for Caring for Your Pets During Quarantine

Lockdown affected pets too. Confined to smaller spaces and shorter routines, dogs and cats felt the change. Here's what Quintana Roo's Animal Welfare Network recommended during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Skip the face mask on your dog

Masks cause stress in animals and aren't necessary. What does matter: wash your hands after petting them and before feeding them.

Keep walks short

Go out alone with your pet, keep it brief, and stick to off-peak hours when fewer people are around. The goal is meeting their basic needs, not a long outing.

Clean their paws after every walk

The risk of contamination from a walk is low, but wiping their paws with a damp cloth and drying them afterward is a simple precaution worth taking.

If you test positive, find someone else to care for them

If no one else is available, minimize contact with your pet and keep your hands clean. Call your vet for specific guidance.

Don't abandon them

Fear of transmission led to thousands of pet abandonments in China and Spain during the early pandemic. There's no evidence pets spread Covid-19 to humans. If you can't care for yours temporarily, find a trusted person to help, and don't leave them on the street.