Cold comfort

Helping pets beat the heat

Doesn’t it make you feel guilty driving home from work in the evening as the sun is going down and there are people everywhere out for a walk?

Some have weights in their hands, most have headphones on and some are exercising in groups. I’ll be biking to work from now on – well, I will at least tomorrow.

With the warmer temperatures, the mornings and evenings are the best times to take your four-legged friend out for a walk. And, already, some patients haven’t been able to cope.

Flappers is a hyperactive west highland white terrier that goes and goes until his batteries run out – which is never. But a tear around the park almost ended in tragedy this week.

Flappers was rushed in to the hospital in the middle of the day by a distraught Kirstie. Flappers couldn’t breath and was a nasty shade of blue.

While one of us looked after Kirstie, the rest quickly went to work on little Flappers. Oxygen does amazing things and within minutes his colour had improved and his breathing was less laboured.

At the same time we placed a catheter in the vein in his arm and started running in fluids. You could cook an egg on his head he was so hot. The heat was just glowing off him.

A Dr Doolittle temperature confirmed he was overheated, so it was lots of towels soaked in cold water to bring his temperature down. Twenty minutes later, Flappers was a much happier dog and you could almost imagine the relieved expression on his face. We were certainly relieved.

He stayed with us overnight in the nice air conditioning and a blood test the next day cleared him of organ damage.

Overheating, or hyperthermia – hyper means high, as opposed to hypo, meaning under – can cause severe organ damage, especially to the kidneys and liver, which may not recover.

We have had several other sad cases over the years, including a fantastic dog called Ed, who became overheated in the back of a covered ute and whose kidneys, unfortunately, never recovered.

So, with a sudden change in temperature outside, our friends have difficulty adjusting their thermostats. Dogs and cats in other countries, such as our immediate neighbour Australia, can obviously cope with the heat because they are used to it. But our little hairy friends cannot.

Remember also that all those little stubby-faced guys and girls, such as boxers, bulldogs and pugs, have a lot of difficulty at the best of times and an increase in temperature can really affect them.

Dogs try to lose or control body temperature by panting. This panting blows air over the moist respiratory areas, such as the tongue, mouth and airways, which causes moisture to evaporate and lower the body temperature.

The problems occur when the panting gets more and more rapid due to the heat and the airways start to swell, which restricts the airflow, and then they need to pant harder. The cycle continues in a downward spiral.

When this happens, their temperature needs to be brought down quickly. The best way is to use towels soaked in cold water and cover the dog with them. Putting them straight in to a cold bath can cause shock.

Once you have them on the way to being cooler, get them in to us as soon as possible so we can give them intravenous fluids and monitor organ functions.

You might be wondering about felines? Well, for a start, these soft-footed ones are sensible and tend to snooze in the middle of the day and go out to socialise at night.

They also tend to sweat through their pads – sweaty paws – rather than pant.

And let’s not forget the fish. Many goldfish succumb to the heat at this time of year, as the sun heats up the bedroom or lounge. Putting an air pump in the tank will help, as will, obviously, moving the tank if possible to a less sunny room.

So remember to think about the sun and heat for your four-legged friends. A walk in the evening or morning will be better for them and will keep you active as well.

Have an awesome week, from everyone at Anderson’s.

Keep laughing.