Summer is in full swing! You may love to sit on the beach and get a nice tan or you may hate how much the heat makes you sweat. Even if you are a summer lover or hater, you and your pet are both at risk for heat stroke. Do you know what to look for if your animal is suffering from heat stroke?聽 Some symptoms your pet can display are, vomiting, seeming disoriented or dizzy, being lethargic and not acting like themselves. 聽Vomiting can easily lead to dehydration of your pet which when not properly dealt with and treated can lead to death in severe cases. 聽An animal that is disoriented or dizzy is not only a danger to itself but the people around it. A dog that is disoriented can become fearful and aggressive which could lead to someone getting hurt. Pets that are very lethargic are usually very sick. A pet that is lethargic tends to be very tired looking, they don鈥檛 seem very happy or excited and do not have a lot of energy.
Animals try not to show that they are not feeling well or injured. It is their natural instinct to hide their pain or illness because in the wild their ancestors knew that showing any signs of illness or pain could lead to them losing their spot in the pack or even losing their life. One place that is common for dogs to suffer from heat stroke and all the symptoms is in a parked car. Did you know that a parked car in the sun on a hot day with temperatures of 21 degrees Celsius after half hour can go up to as high as 40 degree Celsius? 聽Hundreds of dogs have died from being left in hot cars all over Canada in the last year.聽
There are no excuses for leaving your pet in a parked car on a hot summer day!
鈥淲ell I left the windows cracked鈥� A window that is hardly open does not actually help with the inside temperatures of a car; the breeze does not usually make its way into the car through the window at all.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a quick trip in the store鈥� It only takes seconds for the internal temperatures of a car to rise in these hot summer days specially if the car is in direct sunlight.
鈥淚 parked it in the shade鈥� Even in shade cars can quickly obtain high internal temperatures.
Ideally a dogs鈥� temperature should be between 37-39 degrees Celsius but in a hot car they can easily end up having a body temperature of 41 degrees Celsius. Leaving your dog in a parked car on hot summer day is not something you should ever risk, all you are doing is leaving he or she alone, scared and very hot. Remember if your furry companion can鈥檛 come in to the building with you then it is best to leave him or her at home where the air conditioning is!
