National Heat Awareness Day falls on the last Friday of May each year. It was originally added to the calendar to encourage employers to think about heat-related risks in the workplace, particularly for outdoor and manual work—but it's also a good annual reminder for pet owners, because hot weather carries real dangers for animals. Here are some hot weather safety tips to keep your pets healthy through the "dog days" of summer.
The Risk Factors
Pets love being outside, especially in summer when there's time for longer walks and hikes and perhaps a camping trip. Warm weather changes what they need, though, and overheating can escalate into a genuine emergency remarkably quickly.
Overheating in pets can lead to:
- Heatstroke
- Collapse
- Seizures
- Kidney and liver damage
- Clotting problems and internal bleeding
- Brain damage
- Coma and death
Heatstroke is serious and largely preventable, and it can be fatal if it isn't recognized and treated quickly. Some animals are at considerably greater risk than others.
Pets at higher risk include:
- Flat-faced (brachycephalic) breeds—bulldogs, French bulldogs, pugs, Boston terriers, boxers, and Persian cats. Their shortened airways make panting far less effective, and they can overheat on a day another dog would manage comfortably.
- Thick-coated and dark-coated breeds, and northern breeds such as huskies
- Senior pets and very young ones
- Overweight pets
- Pets with heart or respiratory conditions, or a laryngeal problem
- Any pet not yet acclimatized to the season's first hot spell
If your pet falls into any of these categories, please talk to us about what's reasonable for them—it's a conversation worth having in June rather than after a problem.
Signs of Overheating
Dogs are affected more often than cats, largely because they spend more time outdoors and exert themselves more. Neither species sweats the way we do—they shed heat mainly by panting, and once panting can't keep up, body temperature climbs fast.
Early signs of overheating:
- Heavy or frantic panting
- Excessive drooling, and saliva that becomes thick and ropey
- Bright red gums and tongue
- Restlessness, or seeking out shade and cool surfaces
- A racing heart
Signs of a genuine emergency:
- Weakness, stumbling, or an unsteady gait
- Vomiting or diarrhea, sometimes with blood
- Gums that look pale, purple, gray, or blue
- Gasping, or laboring to breathe
- Confusion, collapse, seizures, or unresponsiveness
What to Do If Your Pet Overheats
Act immediately—minutes matter here.
- Get them out of the heat and into shade or air conditioning.
- Start cooling them with cool—not ice-cold—water. Pour or hose it over the whole body, concentrating on the neck, armpits, groin, and belly, where large blood vessels run close to the surface. Wet their paws and ears too.
- Get air moving over them with a fan, or by driving with the windows down or the air conditioning on.
- Offer small amounts of cool water if they're able to drink, but never force water into the mouth of a pet who is disoriented or struggling to swallow.
- Call us on the way in, or head to the nearest emergency hospital.
Two things to avoid. Don't use ice or ice water—it constricts the surface blood vessels and can actually slow cooling, as well as causing shivering that generates more heat. And don't cover your pet with a wet towel and leave it there, since it traps heat rather than releasing it; keep the water moving instead.
Most importantly, please have your pet seen even if they seem to recover. Heatstroke damages organs, and the consequences—kidney failure, clotting abnormalities, gastrointestinal bleeding, and brain swelling—can develop over the following 24 to 48 hours in an animal who looked fine when they cooled down. This is the single most important thing on this page.
Preventing Overheating
Most heat emergencies are avoidable with a few sensible habits.
Overheating in pets can be avoided in the following ways:
- Provide fresh water and shade whenever your pet is outside, and check that the shade will still be shade in a few hours as the sun moves.
- Consider cooling products made for pets, such as cooling mats and vests, and a shallow paddling pool for dogs who enjoy water.
- Never leave your pet in a parked car, even briefly and even with the windows cracked. A car's interior can reach lethal temperatures within minutes on a day that feels merely warm outside.
- Acclimate your pet gradually to hot weather, building up from short periods outside—and remember that the first hot days of the season catch out the most pets, because nobody has adjusted yet.
- Walk and exercise in the early morning or evening, and cut activity right back in the middle of the day. If it's very hot, skip the walk—a day without one won't harm your dog.
- Test the pavement with the back of your hand before setting out. If you can't hold it there comfortably for a few seconds, it's too hot for paws—asphalt can cause burns, and it radiates heat upward at the height your dog actually lives.
- Brush your dog regularly to remove dead undercoat, which helps air circulate. Do check with us before clipping a double-coated breed, though, since that coat insulates against heat as well as cold and shaving it can make things worse and risk sunburn.
- Make sure your home stays cool while you're out—air conditioning if you have it, or fans, blinds closed, and plenty of water in more than one place.
- Be extra careful with the higher-risk pets listed above.
- Don't muzzle a dog in hot weather with anything that restricts panting, and don't use a tight-fitting harness or coat.
The AVMA has further advice on keeping pets safe in hot weather, and the American Kennel Club has suggestions for keeping a house cool without air conditioning.
A Few Other Summer Hazards
- Water safety. Not every dog can swim, and even strong swimmers tire. Rinse them off afterward and dry their ears. Steer clear of ponds and lakes with scummy or discolored water, since blue-green algae blooms are rapidly fatal to dogs.
- Sunburn. Pale-skinned, thin-coated, and recently clipped pets can burn, particularly on the nose, ear tips, and belly. Ask us about a pet-safe sunscreen—human products aren't suitable.
- Parasites. Fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes are at their most active now, so keep prevention up to date.
- Open windows. Screens need to be secure, especially for cats.
Whatever precautions you take, keep a close eye on your pet when it's hot and know the warning signs so you can act straight away. Overheating develops quickly, and once the signs appear, every minute counts. Contact us if you'd like to talk about keeping your pet safe in the heat, or if you're unsure what's reasonable for your particular pet.