CLAY COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 Wildfire smoke isn\u2019t just a concern for people \u2014 it can be just as harmful to pets, according to Dr. Christian Broadhurst with the Clay Humane Society.<\/p>\n
He says owners of animals with existing respiratory sensitivities should be especially cautious during smoky conditions.<\/p>\n
Dogs with short snouts \u2014 like Bulldogs and French Bulldogs \u2014 are particularly vulnerable. <\/p>\n
Broadhurst says those breeds are already prone to breathing issues, and smoke can make things worse fast. Heavy panting after a walk or a tongue that turns from pink to blue are signs of serious trouble.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlue is definitely not good. It means you\u2019re not oxygenating well, and it means that there\u2019s something in our lungs affecting the ability to move oxygen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
His advice for respiratory-sensitive dogs is straightforward: skip the walk and stay inside. If symptoms do appear, Broadhurst says staying calm and cool matters \u2014 and getting to a vet quickly is essential.<\/p>\n
Cat owners \u2014 especially those with outdoor cats \u2014 should consider bringing them inside, particularly older cats or those with a history of breathing problems. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe less smoke, the less particulate matter they\u2019re breathing in, the less likely we are to have an allergy flare-up,\u201d Broadhurst said.<\/p>\n
Birds may face the greatest danger of all. Broadhurst says they are the most respiratory-sensitive animals, already vulnerable to everyday household irritants like hairspray and paint fumes.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can only imagine what smoke would do to them as well, so keep the door shut, and bring them indoors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When in doubt, Broadhurst\u2019s message is simple: if the air is bad for people, assume it\u2019s bad for pets, too \u2014 and act accordingly.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLAY COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 Wildfire smoke isn\u2019t just a concern for people \u2014 it can be just as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[14371,108623,116,118,117,2965,106309,10782],"class_list":{"0":"post-247298","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-air-quality","9":"tag-brantley-fire","10":"tag-jacksonville","11":"tag-jacksonville-headlines","12":"tag-jacksonville-news","13":"tag-pets","14":"tag-railroad-fire","15":"tag-wildfires"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}