One of the main issues that everyone responsible for a family animal must take into account is that heat stroke is a problem exclusively attributable to the neglect, carelessness or carelessness of, or of the humans responsible for the animal. A dog does not reach temperatures that are incompatible with its life if its “presumed friend” is alert to avoid situations that can lead to such serious risk.
And, obviously, the main source of heat that can put the animal’s life at risk is none other than the king star: the sun .
Certain animals, like some humans, suffer in a special way from the action of the sun’s rays on their body, either because of the sensitivity of their skin, because of the short length of their fur, or even because they have hairless areas; in these cases there is a clear predisposition to the appearance of sunburn. To prevent these more than annoying lesions, we must put the greatest interest in avoiding excess sun the first few days and maintaining a correct hygiene routine (daily brushing mainly in long-haired animals), which will allow us to maintain the good condition of our skin. pet.
Let’s keep in mind that there are sunscreens for specific use for dogs and cats, and with a high protection factor (50)
We can relieve the inconvenience of the time of adaptation to the rigors of the sun by refreshing the animal with showers of water (without soap), and if even putting the greatest interest, our good friend appears with the red truffle or with peeling in various points of his body , we will go to the vet before experimenting with wonderful products supposedly useful for our skin, or with remedies that can harm more than help
The dog before the lacerating solar rays, or due to the high temperature that they can experience in certain closed enclosures, gets hot, very hot! There is no mechanism that prevents them from suffering the rigors of the sun and that is why they will try to “seek life” in the best possible way:
- They will lie down in the coolest places in the house, in areas with currents and near air conditioners and fans (beware of “colds”, otitis and conjunctivitis that this direct cold air can cause).
- They will refuse to walk in very hot hours (noon) and will be delighted with “the cool” (dawn and night).
- They will drink a lot of water, they will have less appetite and they will move just enough.
And focusing on heat stroke, specifically, let’s start with how we can show that our dog is suffering from heat stroke, for which we must keep in mind some physiological realities:
- The temperature of a healthy dog ranges between 38 and 39 degrees; when it goes above 40, a safety zone is crossed… when it reaches 41/42 degrees, important and dangerous organic events are triggered.
- The increase in temperature causes a loss of body fluids; Although dogs do not “sweat” as humans do, they regulate temperature through the tongue (panting), mainly.
- The loss of body fluids causes a “thickening” of the blood, so its circulation becomes slower.
- The slowing of the circulation hinders the functionality of the blood, causing a progressive decrease in the transport of oxygen to all the organic territories.
Taking into account the physiological realities that are produced by the rise in body temperature induced by the direct and continuous action of the high temperatures of the environment where the animal is found, the symptoms that we can show are the following:
- The first symptom is a continuous panting , intense with abundant production of “baba”.
- The animal is breathing heavily and shows obvious signs of nervousness.
- The mucosa of the mouth (lips and gums) presents “bluish” tones ( cyanosis ), due to poor organic oxygenation.
- The animal does not want to/can move normally and may lose consciousness (shock), previously experiencing tremors, balance disturbances, spasms, convulsions…
- If this cascade of symptoms is not stopped, the dog will die.
And although we have discussed it before, the main causes of heat stroke are:
- The main cause is the “incompetence” of the owner to prevent something absolutely avoidable.
- Among the most common situations that cause heat stroke in dogs we have:
- Dog locked in vehicles .
- Dogs locked in glazed terraces .
- Dogs tied up outside .
- Dogs walking with high temperatures ; this circumstance more commonly affects senior dogs and specimens of brachycephalic breeds (bulldog, boxer…)
And among the actions that we must keep in mind before the presentation of a heat stroke, we have:
- Move the animal out of the place that has caused such a situation.
- If we are close to a clinic , go immediately.
- If we are not near a clinic:
- Offer him water in a controlled way if he is conscious: an excessive intake of water, and the contrast in temperatures could generate another serious problem: stomach dilation-torsion.
- Lower body temperature:
- Wet the animal , its whole body if possible.
- Use cold water or ice placing it in main areas of blood circulation (neck, armpits, groin)
