Beware the Heat!

A topic submitted by a friend of mine, and I thought with summer coming it would be a good idea to discuss it! Pets are very susceptible to heat stroke, dogs and cats alike. You need to be considerate of them during warm weather.
There are a few reasons why this occurs. A human's normal body temperature is around 98.6 degrees, while the normal for a dog or cat is around 102! You can imagine how easily they can get overheated. Humans have a mechanism to cool their bodies off when they get hot... sweat. Dogs and cats cannot sweat, except a small amount that comes from their paw pads. Dogs pant to get rid of heat, however in cases of extreme heat, the function of panting may not work as well as our sweating mechanism. Short-nosed, or brachycephalic breeds, such as Bulldogs, Boston terriers, and Pugs, have an even harder time with the heat. They have compromised airways due to their genetics and so they can't move enough air when they pant sometimes to keep themselves cool. Those thick-coated breeds, such as Siberian Huskies, are meant for cold weather and do not do well in the summer.
For an outdoor dog, make sure it has access to plenty of fresh water and shade. If there is a heat advisory in your area, the best thing to do for it is to bring it inside in the air conditioning. Some owners will get a small kiddie pool, fill it with water, and put that in the shade as a way for their pet to cool down.
Never leave your pet in a car unattended in the heat, even for a minute. Cars heat up very rapidly. I would like to share a story with you that happened to me about three summers ago. I was working at my veterinary clinic and a man rushed in with a Bulldog that was limp and breathing very hard. It was not conscious. I took the dog into the back treatment area and began assessing its condition. I took its pulse, which was 100, and temperature, which was 108 degrees!!! The man proceeded to tell me he was watching the dog for its owner and he needed to run to the store. He decided to take his dog (a black lab) and this dog with him. He only needed to run in the store for a minute so he left the dogs in the car and cracked one window very slightly. He was in the store for 20 minutes and when he came back out, his dog was panting very hard and this dog, the bulldog, was laying on his stomach not looking good. So, here we are now at the vet clinic where we are attempting to cool this dog down by running IV fluids into the pet and wrapping his paw pads in cool towels. His body temp dropped to about 97 after only 3 minutes, then rose back up to 106. This continued for about 15 minutes until the veterinarian had to tell this man that this dog needed to be put down. It had suffered severe hyperthermia and we probably would not be able to save it. Moral of the story: Think about your pets in very cold or very hot weather, they can suffer also!