The UK has been hit with another load of heat waves, one after another. If you are anything like me, you’ve been peeling yourself off your furniture and panting like a dog. Speaking of dogs. How are our pets dealing with this heat? After a recent conversation with some fellow pet business people over Twitter, we realised there was a lot of content being shared around about dogs in the sun, but not much regarding other pets such as cats or rabbits. As a cat and rabbit owner I hoped I could shed a little bit of light and inspirational tips on the subject to help you all keep your pets cool in the Summer.
Keeping your cat cool in the heat.
In the past few weeks I’ve noticed my kitten began to pant furiously in this heat and I’ve been searching for ways to keep her cool. One of the ways I discovered was to make frozen ice lollies. These can be made for Cats and for Dogs, you can make ice lollies out of just about anything as long as your desired taste is safe for cats to eat.
Here is a recipe from Battersea for Tuna flavoured Frozen Lollies. We can’t wait to try these out, if you know of any other recipes, please leave them in the comments!
Jen from advoCATS East Mids suggests sticking freezer blocks in a sock and using it as a cold water bottle. She also said it works great for humans too. We can’t wait to try out this idea!
AdvoCATS is a free support service which helps tenants and landlords where there are issues regarding keeping pets. Check them out here https://www.advocatseastmids.org.uk/ or on Twitter.
Another way to keep your cats cool is to use a pet cooling mat which are suitable for dogs and rabbits also.
Keeping your rabbit cool in the heat
My harlequin minilop Bea has also been affected by the heat, I’ve noticed her laying down a lot during the day which she tends to do during the Summer and warmer days.
Throwing a cold water or frozen water bottle inside your rabbits hutch/cage can help create cooler air as well as act as a mini air conditioner.
You could also try sticking some of their favourite vegetables or fruit in the fridge before giving it to them, this could act as a cool treat and also help maintain their healthy balanced diet.
Rabbits do not have a gag reflex meaning it is bad for them to chew on their own fur, as they cannot spit it back up, this is why we groom rabbits. By grooming your rabbit during the summer, you can help remove excess fur which will help cool them down.
Never stick a rabbit in water if you think they are overheated, rabbits are not strong swimmers, and by doing this you will only stress them out causing their body temperature to rise.
Offer your rabbit fresh cold water up to twice / three times a day. Cooling mats are also suitable for rabbits, and moving your rabbit’s living quarters into a shaded area or room will help cool them down by not being in direct sunlight. Fans are also safe for rabbits, but do not use one if it is causing distress to your bunny. Fans can be noisy and could possibly startle a bunny if they aren’t used to it, if you are going to use a fan make sure you leave a bit of distance between them to start with, if your bunny seems okay then you could try gradually moving it closer over time.
Keeping your dog cool in the heat
A great way to keep your dog cool during the Summer is to invest in a small paddling pool in which your dog can have a splash. If you cannot get hold of a paddling pool, you could try filling your bath tub with a small amount of water to allow them to cool down.
A wet towel placed down for your dog, can be great alternative as it allows the dog to lie on top of it to cool down. Cooling mats may also be used as these are most commonly used among dog owners.
As I mentioned earlier in this post you can make homemade ice lollies for dogs to help keep them cool. Here is a recipe from Battersea to create an apple and carrot flavoured ice lolly suitable for dogs.
Weather consisting over 23 degrees is considered dangerous for dogs and it is not recommended that you walk your dogs on these days. Instead you could opt for an early morning walk way before the sun reaches its peak or late evening walk after the heat has cooled down. This may also help your dog cool down if there is a big enough breeze out.
We really hope you found this article helpful and that you will use some of the tips mentioned for on your pets to help keep them cooler on those hot days. If you have any tips of your own be sure to leave them in the comments so other people can check them out too!
We’ve collaborated with Petissimo Graphic Design for this post, and they contributed these beautiful graphics to help raise awareness for keeping pets cool in the Summer. Be sure to check them out at https://www.petissimographicdesign.com/ for all of your pet business graphic needs, they also help create websites, illustrations, logos, designs for print advertising and online advertising. You can also find them on Twitter and Instagram.
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