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Don’t mess with the heat!
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This cherryhead redfoot tortoise, like most reptiles, likes
warm weather, but even reptiles can overheat so give them
a hideout option where they stay cool and healthy.
A reminder: Hot weather is hotter in a car. Also, most pets are even more sensitive to heat than humans of a similar size—and people shouldn’t be in un-airconditioned cars in hot weather, either.
The Weather Channel picked up a story from stltoday.com, about 7 dogs who died after being left in a van—and not in the sun, but overnight, from about 1 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Monday. The 24-year-old woman caring for the dogs had returned from a dog show in Iowa. She told police she put six electric fans in the van to keep the dogs cool. She also left a door open and the windows partly open before going inside the home to sleep.
The story reports that she started to put the dogs in kennels in the garage of a home in Arnold MO. But she was tired, and moving the dogs was hot work, so she left them in their portable kennels in the van. She told police that the dogs seemed fine 3 hours later when she went outside to check on the dogs. But, about 6:30 a.m., she found five of the dogs not breathing. Three more were in distress. She tried giving the dogs first aid before taking them to a veterinarian. Only one of the eight survived.
The woman may face prosecution, but that’s almost beside the point—do you want to find your pets dying or in distress because you didn’t keep them cool? If the weather is too hot for you, it’s definitely too hot for your pet. Except for a desert snake or lizard, perhaps—but even most desert animals have cool retreats under rocks or in dens for when they start to overheat.
Horses overheat easily and should never be exercised heavily in hot weather. Ferrets go limp at about 85 degrees F, just lying around in their cage, barely having the energy to eat or drink—very dangerous for a small animal. Dogs should never be allowed to run in hot weather, even if they seem eager to play with you. Cats usually have more sense and flop on a cool floor somewhere until the heat lets up.
If your air conditioning goes out in very hot weather, your pets don’t have the options you do, of hanging out at the mall or in a library—or swimming pool. If you're not sure what amount of heat is dangerous for your pet, check with your vet. Get at-risk animals to the coolest spot available, whether that is a basement, or even the concrete floor of your garage—or carport, if it’s in the shade. Make sure your pet has plenty of cool water to drink. And if you see signs of distress, get your pet to an animal hospital ASAP.
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