.106 Heat Indexes and Outdoor Pets

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Lucky me just happens to live in an area affected by the lovely heat wave. Physical temps are expected in the upper 90's, but with the humidity the indexes are expected well into the 100's.

I just checked with two independent forcasts to be sure. Heat indexes are expected to be at the 106 mark. Highest since 1988. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/hot.gif

Now I know to make sure that our outside dog Rowdy and the 2 cats have plenty of water, and that there is shade for them. But is there some other tricks that can help keep them cool??

Thinking more of poor Rowdy here, he's old and has a very dense shaggy coat. I'd bring him inside into the air but we've already got the girls inside....with 3 big dogs underfoot I think I'd probably tear my hair out. Plus Rowdy doesn't like being indoors. It makes him uneasy if it isn't for just a few mins. He starts howling and whining and scratching at the door.

The cats aren't much bother to just bring inside if necessary.

I make sure Rowdy is out of his kennel, has plenty of cold water (refreshed every couple of hours), and he has the shade of a huge maple. His kennel is fairly hot during this type of weather. He's my older dog, and this year the heat seems to be really getting to him. :frown:

Is there any other way to help make him less miserable in this heat?? Any ideas?
 

Suz

(the future) MRS. GERE
You could hose them off every couple of hours so that they are wet. My girls love that in hot weather.

Or a kid's plastic pool filled with water for him/them to lie in or play in.

But in the worst part of the day, I'd make them stay indoors even if they didn't like it.

Suz
 
F

flutterbee

Guest
The swimming pool is a good idea - just make sure it's in the shade. But during the worst part of the day, I would make him stay inside. If he's hot enough, he won't complain much. Also, it's going to be like this for several days. I heard that Thursday is supposed to be a record setting day.

We're supposed to hit 105 here tomorrow with the heat index. It's 94 outside now and I broke a sweat and was sticky just walking from the grocery store to the car. Reminded me of why I don't miss Atlanta. /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/hot.gif
 

stepmonster

New Member
We used to let them stay downstairs and leave the door open so they could change their mind. It's so much cooler in the basement. If his coat is shaggy maybe you could relieve him of some of it?
 

timer lady

Queen of Hearts
We've been known to water down the tweedles sandbox for Sally to lay about in. She would bury herself in the cool sand & I'd add more water when necessary.

Water pool is a good idea - clean out your ice cube maker of old cubes by putting them in your dog's water dish during the day.

I'm like Suz, though, I'd force a few indoor breaks.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
The kiddie pool is a great idea. My dogs all have been swimmers. The one I have now is mostly a house dog but he does go out during the day however, he tends to spend his time laying under the house where its cool.

I pretty much try to keep him in when its so darned hot though. If he will let me...lol.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Thanks for the hose idea! :grin:

I didn't think of it because Rowdy hates bathes. lol I'll have Travis go out several times and hose him down. If that doesn't help him out we'll just have to make him come inside.

Unfortunately I don't have a wading pool, and our walmart and kmart are completely out. (gee I wonder why?) /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/hot.gif
 

Steely

Active Member
you could also set the hose in the tree with a mister attachment, and leave it on low all day. This way it would create a fine mist constantly cooling the air. This is what some of the animal shelters do.

Good luck....it's hot here too in good ol' Texas.
 

SRL

Active Member
We've been rotating ice packs every few hours all day for my daughter's bunny, plus for her we run a fan to rotate the air but not on her. She always has some part of her body touching it whenever I go out. For larger animals you could freeze water in gallon milk jugs.

Poor little bunny sure didn't need this extended heat: the poor little thing was stressed enough by having been at the county fair the past five days. The last morning (Sun) I put her back in her cage after holding her and when I leaned over to get her food she leaped out and landed on my back to get to me. There I was at 7 am alone (except for a few hundred rabbits and birds) with a rabbit on my back and a hard concrete floor beneath!
 

SRL

Active Member
Well, you can add me to the list of big old softies. I went out to check the bunny at 5:00 and she was off her ice pack and it was hot, hot, hot. She's now in the pet taxi parked on my kitchen counter (away from the cat) and she's the calmest I've seen in days. I'll take her back out when the temperature drops tonight but she looks like she sure needed the break from the heat.
 
Another one for water frozen in gallon milk containers. I put one in our giant water dish and another in their Dog-loo (igloo). Also, be sure to keep the dogs hot spots cool and wet. Their bellies, "pits", feet, necks. Try not to wet their backs too much if they are dark in color as they can turn into a sauna pretty quickly. We have been keeping the frozen milk cartons outside and then alternating dogs inside for a break from the heat. But, their most favorite place is under the house!!

Good luck, it's HOT here as well, ugh!!!

Hugs,
Vickie
 

Marguerite

Active Member
We had a rabbit that seemed to be badly affected by the heat one hot summer night. It lived in our bathroom but the heat was so bad that even there it wasn't cool enough. We were woken at 3 am by bunny going crazy, running wildly around the bathroom and not even noticing when I went into the room. I grabbed bunny and threw him in the shower and turned it on, cold. He quietened down fairly quickly then sat licking himself dry, quietly, then fell asleep. He had plenty of water to drink, so he wasn't dehydrated.

The idea of the hose left on on mist has me cringing, with our Sydney water restrictions! But if you can get away with it... a suggestion, though - wet down a hessian sack and drape it over his kennel. Keep the sack wet and it will keep the kennel much cooler (Coolgardie Safe principle). The frozen water containers is also a good idea. If you freeze water in an ice cream container, then put the giant ice block in his water dish, he can lick it to cool off.

Marg
 
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