What May Feel Sultry to Us Can Be Deadly to Them



Lincoln

Meet Lincoln. Typically Lincoln is a happy-go-lucky fellow who loves life and everybody in it! This picture depicts another side to Lincoln’s life, however, and reminds us that these hot summer months bring with it very real and scary risks for our pets. Lincoln first came to our emergency hospital last summer after overheating while boarding. He was just being himself, but his excitement, the heat, and the fact he is brachycephalic, (short-nosed), quickly put him in a life threatening state.



Truman

Lincoln, Truman (also pictured), Boxers, Boston Terriers, and Pugs are some of the breeds with a higher risk of overheating. Their skull bones are shortened in length, but their soft tissue structures are not proportionately reduced, resulting in narrowed air passages and a challenge to breath. This challenge jumps to critical when they cannot get sufficient air to help them stay cool. When an animal suffers from hyperthermia, heat stroke or exhaustion is a risk and there is little time before serious damage, or even death, can occur. It is important to remember that heat stroke can even occur on a mild day!

This summer when Lincoln came into our emergency hospital with heat exhaustion, he had been at home…and inside the house! True to his nature he was playing and having a great time until his respiration became stressed. Soon he fell into a vicious cycle – the harder he worked to breath, the hotter he became – the hotter he became, the harder it was for him to breath. With supportive medical care, Lincoln recovered again, but his family wanted to lower his risk of repeated episodes and elected to have surgery. Lincoln had his nares (front part of his nose) opened up a little wider, his soft palate resected (shortened) and his laryngeal saccules (fine membrane in the larynx) removed. This gave him more room for air to pass so he can better control his body temperature.

Lincoln and his fellow short-nosed breeds need special consideration during the summer, but all of our pets can suffer hyperthermia. Avoid any type of outdoor exercise on a hot day and make sure pets have access to ample fresh, cool water and shade. Never leave your pet alone in a car on a warm day, regardless of whether or not the windows are open. Signs of heat stroke include: panting or difficulty breathing, dark red and dry gums, thick saliva with excessive drool, disorientation, lying down with an unwillingness to rise, collapse, seizures, elevated rectal temperature, and increased heart rate.

If you suspect your pet is suffering from heat stroke, remove him/her from the source of the heat and place him/her in front of a fan or in air conditioning, contact your veterinarian and make plans for transport immediately. You can begin cooling your pet with luke warm to cool wet rags, concentrating your cooling efforts on the head and feet. DO NOT use ice or cold water – extreme cold will cause blood vessels in the skin to constrict, preventing the body’s core from cooling. Cooling measures will be continued at the veterinary clinic where IV fluids, oxygen therapy and testing will be performed. A long hospital stay with repeat testing to check organ function is often necessary.