With the arrival of good weather, high temperatures also appear and, with it, the caregivers’ concern to keep their cat well away from the dangers of heat. To achieve this, in this article we are going to collect the best tips to protect cats from the heat.
In this way, in addition to maintaining your well-being, we will prevent you from suffering the dreaded, and potentially fatal, heat stroke. Prevention is the basic tool, as we will see, to avoid taking unnecessary risks. Keep reading!
1. Prevention of heat stroke
Do cats like heat? Yes, of course, they love to lie in the sun taking advantage of any lightning or the heat of a radiator, as we can see if we live with them. But when temperatures are high, they too have to protect themselves from the sun, as excessive heat can cause serious complications, such as heat stroke, which is a potentially fatal problem for our cat. As a result of exposure to high temperatures, hypothermia occurs, that is, the increase in your body temperature, which triggers a series of reactions in the body that can end in your death.
A cat that is suffering from heat stroke will show symptoms such as panting, breathing difficulties, intense red discoloration of the mucous membranes , fever, vomiting, bleeding and even shock that can lead to death. We must seek urgent veterinary attention.
In addition to heat stroke, direct exposure to the sun can cause, as occurs in humans, burns, especially in the nose and ears and in cats with white fur. To avoid these serious consequences, in the following sections we are going to explain tips to protect cats from heat.
2. Provide the cat with a cool environment
The ideal temperature for cats, that is, their normal body temperature is somewhat higher than that of humans, but you must take into account their difficulties in self-cooling. What humans easily do through sweat is more complex for cats because they have to lick themselves to cool off with their saliva. They can also sweat but only from the pads.
That is why it is not necessary for us to wonder how much temperature a cat can endure, as it will be similar to what we can endure. Thus, the ideal temperature for a cat will also be the ideal one for us, both in summer and winter. For the present case, these are some extra tips to protect cats from the heat that we can apply to their environment:
- Any measure we take to maintain a comfortable temperature in our home will do well for the cat, which may include the use of resources such as air conditioning or fans.
- It is a good idea to keep the blinds down or the curtains drawn in rooms where the sun is shining the most.
- It is advisable to open the windows to ventilate and cool the house. Keeping cats is essential to take precautions to prevent them from falling, since it is common for cats to jump out of windows and balconies. In fact, it is so common that it is known as parachute cat syndrome and can result in serious consequences and even death, which is why it is vital to install window protections such as mosquito nets.
- Whenever we leave our cat, it should only have a shady place with access to fresh water. The bathroom is usually a good place since the tiles are kept cold and it is not uncommon to see cats also sleep in places such as the washroom or the bidet.
- If the cat has the possibility of going outside in an area that we control, such as a patio or garden, we must also ensure the possibility of shade and water.
- Finally, let’s avoid exercises, rough games or races in times of maximum heat.
3. Ensure adequate hydration
Among the tips to protect cats from heat, the role of water is essential to cool a cat in summer. Cats are sometimes reluctant to drink, so it is important that we encourage them to drink water. It is known that moving water attracts them, such as the one that runs from the tap or from special fountains for them that can be used as drinking fountains.
In the hot season, we must make sure that the water remains fresh, for which we can change it several times a day. Some cats like to play with ice cubes, which can also be a trick to cool them down and drink more water. Offering them wet food or broths to drink can also help them maintain their hydration, especially important in cats with kidney problems or the smallest, elderly, encephalitic or sick, as they constitute a more vulnerable population.
4. Cat baths in summer
The coat of our animals plays an important role when it comes to protecting them from the sun, for this reason, in the advice to protect cats from the heat, those related to the care of their hair cannot be absent. As we say, the fur helps them insulate themselves from the heat and protects the skin from sunburn. Although cats maintain a scrupulous grooming routine, we can help them with frequent brushing. In this way we help them eliminate dead hair.
We can also bathe our cat in summer but it may be more refreshing if we just wipe it with a wet towel with cool water (not cold) or with our own hand over its back and head. In this way the water will act as if it were your own saliva and the evaporation on your body will help you feel fresh.
In addition, if our cat likes water, we can offer it a basin or small pool with a few centimetres of water, so that it covers only the lower part of its legs, so that they can play with the water and cool off as they see fit. We will place this pool, which can be small, on a balcony or patio or even inside the bathtub or shower tray, if we want to avoid wetting the ground.
5. Summer travel
Finally, if we move in hot season with our cat, even if only to take it to the vet, we must follow some tips to protect cats from the heat, such as traveling in the cooler hours of the day , that is, to first in the morning, last in the afternoon or night.
If the trip is long, we must stop every so often to offer water and / or refresh it. If we go with him on vacation we have to write down the phone numbers of the veterinarians in the area, including those who offer emergency services. It is also essential that we never leave our cat alone in the car when the temperature is high, as it could die from heat stroke, as we have explaied.
