The high summer temperatures can cause disorders in people's life and health. And it also has a strong impact on our pets, especially dogs and cats.
The first thing to know is that the heat affects more dogs and cats than humans. Us humans manifest the increased temperature in our bodies through sweating, that is the way we cool our bodies down but Dogs do not sweat (they do not have sweat glands) so they get rid of the heat of their bodies through panting. Cats on the other hand, cool their bodies down with their saliva by licking themselves.
In summer, our pet’s health depends totally on us and we need to be very careful because a heat stroke can kill your pet in 20 minutes.
The symptoms are clear: tremors, breathing difficulties and not being willing to move much like they usually do. There is no need to do anything extraordinary, we just need to apply the same common sense we would as with our small children or even with ourselves.
- Make sure your pet is drinking water regularly to avoid dehydration, never do it in large quantities. If you're travelling by car, you can spray water on their blanket: this will help to keep them fresh. And when you stop for a break to stretch your legs, do not leave your furry friend in the car because the vehicle can quickly reach the 50 degrees.
- When you take your dog for a walk, do it during the hours of low heat to avoid a heatstroke.
- Having a well-ventilated room at home or a large shadow in the garden could prevent our furry friends from suffering the side effects of heat.
- Do not use ice-cold water to hydrate your cat or dog; their brain can be seriously damaged. And we should not cover them completely with blankets or towels because it does no remove the heat, on the contrary, doing so may increase it even more
