Summer is upon us and many parts of the country jury are experiencing extreme heat. Both people and animals can suffer severely in extreme heat, but pets can't always tell us just how hot they are. Keeping your pets inside is the easiest way to make sure they do not get overheated, but for some people that may not be an option.
If your animals are outside, there are some things you can do to keep them as cool as possible. Make sure they have access to shade at all times and keep food and water in the shade. I've even heard of adding some ice cubes to a larger water dish so the water doesn't get too warm.
Please share your own tips for different animals so we can all be informed and keep our pets safe this summer.
We also keep our little dogs inside the house for most of the day when it is hot. I cannot tolerate the heat or the humidity very well myself; so when it is hot and humid in the summer, I get up much earlier and go outside to water the garden and flowers.
That is also when the dogs go outside, and since it is cooler at that tiime of the day, they can spend more time in the yard, and then be ready to come back inside before the heat of the day arrives.
During the day, I just let them out for a quick bathroom trip and then back inside.
We also bought a small "kiddie pool" and sometimes, I will take the dogs outside and put them in the pool and let them splash around in that to cool off.
Then, they will go and sit in the shade to dry off while I am out splashing around in our little Intex pool.
After that, we are both ready to go back inside the house until it cools off again in the evening.
Sometimes, I do also put ice cubes in their water bowl to keep it cooler, and I also change out the water for fresh water more often.
Very timely advice - where I live a lot of places have been experiencing record breaking warm weather.
My dog is an indoor dog, but when the weather is so warm outside we always take our dog walking either super early in the morning or late at night when the sun has already gone down. I don't want to subject my dogs paws to a hot pavement or anything like that - I can't imagine walking around barefoot on the pavement when it's scorching outside so I absolutely wouldn't want that for my dog!
I like the idea that happyflowerlady posted about having a kiddy pool for dogs to splash around in. My dog does love the water and I think he would really appreciate getting to play around in something like that when it's warm. Even though he is an indoor dog he does go out into the yard for his potty breaks so I think something like that would be entertaining for a short splash and cool-off!
My dad actually used to get a bucket of water next to a chair and start petting the cat and dipping his hands in the water so her fur would get wet slowly and she was kind of pinned down by the other hand. He would keep doing that until he felt he had worked enough water into her fur to cool her off. Poor little lady didn't like it one bit, but my dad thought she was too hot and needed to be cooled down whether she liked it or not, so he did it. Once he was done she would go sulk under the deck where we could see her glaring at us, but not get to her, until her fur dried out and she had re-groomed herself to perfection. I wish she could have just come inside, but the garage was by dad's shop, so not safe, and my mom did not want the cat to come inside.
Heat can be deadly for our pets. Pet birds, for example do not do well when they become overheated. They can easily go into a distressful situation that needs immediate medical attention. Overheating can be deadly. The bird will stay on the bottom of the cage and become very listless, due to lack of energy -- not moving.
You can mist your pet bird with water if that won't scare it. A fan directed near the cage can cool your bird down. Do not place the fan so it is blowing directly on your bird. Air conditioning can help a lot.
Be sure to keep the cage out of direct sunlight near a window during the summer months. Glass heats up very fast.
You can place gel freezer packs inside the bottom of the cage to provide more cool air.
Lastly, always remember to change drinking water and bath water often. Food should be taken away if it's not eaten, because bacteria can quickly contaminate the food.