Everyone knows how to stay fresh in the scorching heat; however, are you aware of how to maintain your feline companions cool in this weather? It’s crucial to maintain your pet cool, pleased, and healthy throughout the warm seasons — here are a few helpful hints!
Felines were evolved from tropical creatures in countries such as Asia and Egypt, and they appreciate the sunlight and warmth. On the other hand, excessive sun can cause major complications, including heatstroke and blistering.
How to keep cats cool during summer? While many felines generally manage their own core temperature to stay safe, particular breeds (like long-haired and flat-faced felines) are more inclined to experience difficulties whenever the climate gets warmer. Prevention is usually preferable to diagnosis, and fortunately, there are several measures you could do to maintain your furry companions happy this summer!
Can Cats Handle Hot Weather?
Felines prefer to hang outdoors where there will be little sunlight. They may also keep themselves cooler by cleaning their coat or perspiration through their legs. However, your cat companions might sometimes require some assistance from their fellow owners to balance their core temperature. Heatstroke in felines is less prevalent than in canines, although it does occur. Heat exhaustion can progress to sunstroke, which can cause system loss or destruction.
Feline Behavior and Biology in Hot Weather
Felines aren’t particularly resistant to hyperthermia whenever left to their natural resources. Felines (and canines) are isothermal, which implies their core temperature remains nearly stable, around 101 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit. They control the inner heating rate and thermal energy to keep a consistent core temperature.
So, what exactly does that imply? It implies they don’t usually require assistance in cooling down. Although felines (and canines) may sweat from their claws as an indication of being overheated, perspiration is not a fundamental way for them to control the temperature. The surface size of a feline’s foot is far too small to function as an efficient cooling tool.
How do cats cool themselves?
Felines stay cool in a variety of means. One of which is to lie on cool surfaces, such as a shaded concrete floor, a bunker, or a toilet floor. For general knowledge, this cooling mechanism is known as conduction. They essentially transmit excess heat from their bodies whenever they lay on cold objects.
Whenever they get in touch with cold air and water, they use a technique known as convection to relax their bodies from heat. This happens when they dive into a pond or have a cooler pointed at them. The warmth is dissipated from their bodies by the use of chilled water or air.
Felines may also evaporatively transmit excess heat from their bodies by breathing. Surprisingly, their coat also aids in keeping a feline cool! You presumed it was to cover them up when it was harsh outside? Absolutely not!
In hot temperatures, the feline (and canine) coat can also aid a creature by protecting them from absorbing excessive heat. The intense undercoat that a feline possesses in the wintertime keeps it cozy in the freezing climate. In the cold season, you might observe that your feline community appears fluffier or heavier as they develop heavy fur to resist the cold climate outdoors! Felines shed their thick fur during the summer season.
Summer’s ultimate external coat is really great for dealing with the heat, provided the weather isn’t too hot. That’s why shaving or cutting your cat’s coat in the heat might be a disaster! Shaving a feline might end up making them more prone to get heatstroke. In addition, its fur protects them from sunlight, skin problems, and bug attacks. Shaving your canine or feline should be prohibited unless your pet is Persian or another thick-coated species. It is essential to talk to a doctor before trimming your feline for temperature considerations.
Can Cats Get Too Hot?
Yes, they certainly can! Felines, like people, are susceptible to heat overload and sunstroke. On the other hand, felines are less prone than canines to succumb to extreme exertion or stroke. Why? Because felines aren’t frequently transported in automobiles or taken for strolls.
Felines, too, are worried about their personal satisfaction and may search out ways to maintain cool on their own. (In other respects, felines are usually capable of avoiding it.)
On the other hand, felines could become ill from overheating if they get entangled in a hairdryer, if an outside feline becomes confined inside a garage (or some other ‘kitchen’ building), or if they are made to flee in mid-summer afternoon temperatures.
Breeds having thick fur coatings or bulbous features, overweight, poor respiratory or cardiovascular health, and seniority are all possible causes of thermal sickness in felines. Let’s talk about what happens if felines become a little too heated.
Overheating Signs in Felines:
- Breathing hard
- Fast heartbeat
- Dehydration
- Eyes that have plummeted
- The litter container has low to no excrement.
- Sweaty toes (felines sweat via receptors in their toes, but they never sweat to stay cool!)
- Dizziness
- Stretched over straight on the floor, lying face down.
- Throwing up
- Anxiousness
- Lack of energy
- Slobbering or saliva that is slimy or thick
- Their tongue and lips are extremely red.
- The temperature of the rectal cavity is more than 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.5 degrees Celsius).
- Epilepsy
- Coma
- Death
Heatstroke may kill both felines and humans; therefore, it’s imperative for felines (and canines and humans!) to avoid overheating in the summertime.
How to Keep Cats Cool in Hot Weather
1. Drinking Water is Important
The one essential thing you can do to assist felines in staying cool in warm temperatures is to ensure they have fresh, cold access to water. Place two freshwater dishes on the table. One dish must be chilled and new, while the second must be covered in ice.
Afterward, the ice dish would gently defrost and give refreshing water in the daytime. Put ice chunks in a water dish to chill it enough and engage your feline’s attention. This could persuade her to stay hydrated. If the heat increases over 90 degrees F, the dishes must be refilled every 2 hours.
2. Utilize the Air-Conditioner or a Blower
If your felines are exclusively allowed indoors, ensure the air conditioning is turned on even though you’re in the office.
If you don’t use air conditioning, provide a safe place for your felines by keeping the toilet or storage room entrance unlocked so they may go out to the cooler spot in the home.
3. Don’t Take Your Felines Out in the Hottest Timing of the Daytime
If you stroll your feline on a leash, ensure you change the strolling routine to avoid exercising your pet during the warmest period of each day. The optimal period to stroll your felines is fresh in the day and later in the dark, if practical.
4. Shade
Ascertain that the outside felines (wild or feral) have accessibility to shaded locations. This may be as easy as installing a pet door inside your workshop or cellar, or as complex as constructing a shelter in your backyard. Something that would give shelter will be beneficial!
It is indeed necessary for domestic cats to stay cool. Throughout the day, ensure the drapes and windows are shut!
5. Brushing
Groom them often, particularly if they have long fur because tangled fur is extremely hot.
6. Keep Felines Out from Warm Areas
Keep outside felines away from gardens, small buildings, and other enclosed spaces. Before closing things up, double-check that there are no felines within!
7. Keep them Calm
If a feline is compelled to exhaust itself at the midpoint of each day, it would overheat. That’s why you haven’t seen too many felines outside all day in the midst of summertime. During the warmest portion of the afternoon, most of them seek cool places to rest.
8. Keep Your Feline Indoor
Domestic felines that are exclusively let outdoors with guidance or on harnesses are something you would want to do. A significant reason for this is that outside felines, like wild felines and feral felines, have shorter lives than house pets. If you rescued a stray feline that insisted on being released outdoors, remember to keep her inside whenever the weather gets warmer.
9. Avoid Car Trips
If you need to bring your feline to the doctor during the summertime, ensure you don’t leave her in the vehicle for more than 5 minutes.
10. Spray Water Mist To Your Pet’s Fur
No, you should not spray your feline or stray felines! That irritates them. You may assist their organs in cooling down quickly by dampening their coat with a moist cloth. Your feline doesn’t need to be soaked. Even a tiny amount of water will aid, particularly in summer weather. Using a moist towel, clean your feline down. Hydrate your feline using a spray can if she would allow it. The moist towel will be tolerated by the majority of felines. To assist your feline chill off even further, wrap a cold pack around her collar.
Put a cloth over a freezing packet of beans or a chilled water bottle and put it in the external bedding so she could chill off. Put a conditioning bed designed exclusively for felines outside.
Sprinkling water on wild felines is bad since it would shatter their confidence in humans and drive them to flee, defeating the objective of ‘cooling’ them off using water.
11. Chicken Flavored Ice Pieces
You could pour it into their drink, let them engage with it, or let them drink it on a stone floor. It aids in cooling them inside, particularly if you do not have a cooling system.
The chicken-flavored frozen blocks may be mixed into a liquid to encourage your wild and farm felines to drink regularly, which will assist them in staying cool. You may also add meat flavoring.
12. Homemade Ice Packs
You may put disposable mineral water (or anything else that comes to mind) in the freezer and place them anywhere the feline loves to relax.
13. Switch on your Fans
Switch on the blowers, even if you’re inside or out in the farmhouse. Set them on in places where felines are prone to relax. In a farm restroom or storage room, turn on a blower. Air pressure is also beneficial to our animal pals in terms of keeping them cool.
14. Keep Shaved or White-Haired Felines Away from the Sun
Sunburn is a problem for shaved felines and light-skinned, white-haired felines. You may purchase cat sunscreen. But, because there is no sunblock sold for felines in the United States during this time, contact your doctor for a recommendation. Human sunblock should not be used on felines or canines without first visiting a doctor, since most include a hazardous chemical.
15. Offer Moist Food
Felines are built to obtain hydration from both their diet and natural water. This implies that offering wet food to your felines would assist them in keeping hydrated. It is critical for felines to stay refreshed to prevent heat-related ailments.
The additional advantage is that moist food is much healthier than dry kibble, regardless of the manufacturer. So, in contrast to their dry kibble, give them moist food one or two times a day.
16. Pay Close Attention
Learn the signs of heat exhaustion in felines and keep an eye on them to ensure they don’t overheat.
The felines are likely to be okay because they are skilled at keeping themselves cool; however, if some of the signs of heat exhaustion are being shown, consult your doctor immediately!
Final thought
Maintaining feline cool throughout the heat is necessary for every responsible cat parent. If the temperature is high, ensure your feline has plenty of water at all times to avoid dehydration. It’s also preferable to keep your domestic pet inside the room, where you can control the climate and provide air circulation.
Encourage your feline to nap and rest throughout the daytime, and then interact with her in the evenings when the weather is nicer. Finally, keep an eye out for indications of heat exhaustion. It’s recommended to bring your feline to the doctor right away if you observe excessive breathing, drowsiness, temperature, diarrhea, nausea, or amnesia.