So summer has finally arrived! We’ve been waiting with baited breath for those rays of sunshine and dry walks in the park with our four-legged friends. Post lockdown, I have found myself using any excuse to get out of the house and enjoy the great parks London has to offer with my puppy, Pickle. However as a vet I am reminded every day of the very real risks of dog heatstroke.
So what is dog heatstroke? Very simply put it is when your dog gets too hot and is unable to lower their body temperature. If left untreated heatstroke can lead to collapse, seizures, organ failure and even death!
Heartbreakingly every year we hear in the media of a poor pup being left in a hot car and succumbing to dog heatstroke. However in reality this accounts for a tiny proportion of the cases we see in practise. In fact, dog heatstroke can develop from; overheating during exercise, simply being outside in hot weather or being trapped in a warm area (cars, kennels and even conservatories).
The risks of dog heatstroke are even greater for dogs who are; overweight, giant breeds, thick-coated and flat-faced breeds. Thick-coated dogs such as huskies with their double layered coat, although beautiful are designed for Icelandic sub-zero temperatures and so extra care must be made to keep them cold.
Dogs attempt to cool themselves by panting and unfortunately in our flat faced breeds such as Pugs, French Bulldogs and English Bulldogs, due to their flat faces, this ability is severely impeded and so they are at a much higher risk of developing dog heatstroke.
What signs should we look out for?
Signs of dog heatstroke can start subtly but rapidly deteriorate. So keep a keen eye out for:
- Panting
- Drooling and foaming at the mouth
- Bright brick red gums
- Shaking
- Weakness or even collapse
- Confusion
- Vomiting and diarrhoea
- Seizures.
Now, as I am constantly saying, prevention is better than cure. We need to be proactive in preventing dog heatstroke and here are some great tips to follow:
- Never leave your dog in a car on a hot day, not even for a minute or with the window open. Cars get extremely hot, extremely quickly!
- Avoid walking your dog during the high heat of the day, aim for early morning or late evening when it starts to cool. For those high risks dogs avoid walking them entirely on very hot days. Heatstroke can kill, missing a walk for a day won’t!
- Water, water, water!! Keep your pup hydrated. Enjoying a lovely afternoon in a park or pub garden? Bring a travel bottle and bowl with you and offer it regularly.
- Do the palm test! If the ground is too hot for you to place your palm flat on it then it’s too hot for your little pups paws. Dogs can suffer nasty burns on their pads from walking on hot surfaces.
- Invest in a harness. I am a huge fan of harnesses for dogs but particularly in hot weather. Any pressure on the neck can restrict your dogs ability to breath, pant and their ability to cool themselves.
- Travel only when necessary and with air-con. Taking a leaf out of our covid guidelines; only travel when necessary and ideally with the air-con blaring!
- Keep a trim waistline! Overweight pups struggle to keep themselves cool.
- Head to the groomers.. I can’t imagine wearing a thick fur coat in the peak of summer so book them in for a fresh trim.
- Invest in some cooling apparatus; fans, air-con and cooling mats are all great investments in the struggle to keep your pups cool!
- Try your hand at DIY; add ice cubes to your pups water, freeze a dog friendly treat for them to lick and lay soaked wet towels on the floor for them to lie on.
If despite your best efforts you start to see some of the tell tale signs of heat stroke: Think cool, act fast and seek help.
- Remove your dog from any warm environment immediately
- Keep them calm and still
- Offer cold water for them to drink ASAP
- Contact your vet as a matter of urgency.
- Place soaked cold wet towels underneath your dog
- Use cold (not freezing) water to slowly wet their head and feet. Using too cold water can cause the blood vessels to constrict and can risk worsening their condition.
- Continue cooling your dog as your make your way to the vet.
- Your vet will examine your pet and determine the severity of the heat stroke and what further treatment may be indicated.