During summer and hot season, dogs and cats can suffer high temperatures just like humans, or even worse considering that your pets have the sweat glands mainly in correspondence to the pads under the legs, and they can regulate body temperature mainly with breathing. So, it’s understandable how important is to keep your pets properly hydrated, guaranteeing them fresh and clean water. Let’s check the symptoms of your dog or cat dehydration.
There are some actions that we can adopt to help our animals to maintain an adequate temperature and an optimal hydration: grooming and trying to lighten the coat especially if very thick; limiting exits and the exposure to the sun in the hottest hours, preferring shaded and fresh areas, considering that you can let cats go out if they are used to ; during the walks bring some water to give to your dog every 10 minutes approximately; wet with water the snout and the back of the animal and the parts more exposed to the sun; another aspect of vital importance is surely the diet, if the dogs or the cats eat mainly croquettes try to vary their diet adding some humid food
If your dog is not used to drink, make the water area more "attractive". Use for example bowls of steel or ceramic and changing frequently the water. Remember to wash the bowl properly before filling it. In the water, in fact, especially with the heat, Bacteria and algae can proliferate endangering the health of the dog or cat. Water can also be more palatable by adding chicken broth and ice cubes.
Taking all the necessary precautions to keep your pet safe from the heat, review the symptoms and behaviors to be monitored;
• Taking all the necessary precautions to keep your pet safe from the heat, review the symptoms and behaviors to be monitored;
• Gently press a finger against the dog’s gums making them lighten, if they do not immediately return to their original color, the dog could be dehydrated
• Lethargy, loss of appetite, a variation in the amount or color of dog and cat urine could be further signs of dehydration. However, those symptoms are not a cause of concern unless they are serious or lasting more than a day
• Vomiting, diarrhea, salivation and excessive panting can also lead to dehydration if the animal does not compensate for the loss of fluids.
These signals are a wake-up call. If you have doubts about the health of your pet, you have to alert immediately your veterinarian.
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2 Comments
Your dog could become dehydrated for a number of reasons including heat stroke, illness, fever, persistent vomiting or diarrhea, and insufficient fluid intake.
Thank you for your comment Sick-nurse, of course you are perfectly right, there are multiple reasons for dehydration in pets, this article, published in July refers principally to how high temperatures can lead to dehydration, I understand that in January is a bit misleading, I can fix this by changing the title. Thanks