We spoke to vet Colm Conlon MVB, from Village Vets in Stillorgan in Dublin and he shared his top seven tips on minding animals in hot weather.
Top 7 tips to mind your pets:-
1. The first thing is that animals find it harder to regulate body temperatures than we do (due to their coats, relatively larger surface area and for cats and dogs and rabbits their lack of sweat glands).
So it is important to know that pets can only cool themselves by panting heat away. This causes them to lose lots of water through saliva evaporation and is not very good at cooling them.
So the main thing we need to do to help them is help them stay cool.
2. So never leave them in an enclosed hot space like a car or conservatory.
3. Always allow them free access to lots of water.
4. Always allow them access to shade.
5. If possible a shady area with a draft or breeze is great.
6. Adding ice cubes to water bowls helps pets stay cool.
7. Cold bathing is good if your pet enjoys it as is a cold wet towel or a hose down if they’re amenable to it.
You can get 'cool coats' which go in a freezer and can be worn which are great.
8. Exercise should be at cooler times of day and curtailed a bit - nothing too vigorous like excessive ball work for dogs.
"Common sense stuff", says Colm, "but all very important."
Gillian Bird of the Dublin Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also shared her Top 10 tips - read her advice here.
