Heatwave plan: what differs for dogs, cats, rabbits and birds

Quick answer

Heat kills pets by different routes, and the response that saves a dog is not the response that saves a rabbit. Dogs collapse from exertion as well as from ambient heat and need rapid, aggressive cooling. Rabbits and birds do not pant effectively at all and are cooled through specific body regions, gently, without immersion.

The one rule that applies to every species is that cooling starts where you are. Getting a heat stressed animal into a car and driving to a vet without cooling it first wastes the minutes that matter most.

A heatwave plan is made in advance: where each animal goes, what cools it, and who is calling the vet.

• Start cooling immediately, then contact a vet, then travel. Cool first, transport second.
• For dogs, current guidance supports rapid cooling with cool or cold water and moving air. Do not delay to find tepid water.
• For rabbits, birds and small mammals, never immerse and never use ice. Cool the ears, the feet and the surrounding air.
• Panting in a cat is never normal and is a same day veterinary problem.
• Any animal that appears to recover from heatstroke still needs veterinary assessment, because organ damage appears over the following days.

:::danger
Never leave any animal in a parked car, a conservatory, a greenhouse, a shed or a caravan in warm weather, even briefly, even in shade, even with the windows open.

The interior of a closed vehicle or a glazed room heats far faster than the air outside because sunlight enters and the heat cannot escape. An animal inside cannot leave, cannot find shade, and cannot cool itself once the surrounding air is hotter than its own body.

Cats are the species most often forgotten here, because they let themselves into greenhouses, sheds and conservatories to sleep in the sun and are then shut in. Check every outbuilding before locking it during hot weather.
:::

Decide in 60 seconds

Why species differ so much

Dogs.

Panting is the whole system. Air moving over a wet tongue and airway carries heat away by evaporation, and blood flow to the tongue and mucous membranes is increased to feed that process.

It works well in a dry, moving airflow and poorly in humid still air. It fails altogether when the airway itself is the bottleneck, which is the situation in brachycephalic breeds, in dogs with laryngeal paralysis, and in dogs with tracheal collapse.

Dogs also get exertional heatstroke, which is heatstroke generated by muscle activity rather than by hot weather. A fit dog running hard on a merely warm day can overheat, and this is one of the more common presentations. It is also why the risk is not confined to the hottest hours.

Cats.

Cats are much less likely to exert themselves into heatstroke. They also groom, which spreads saliva that evaporates and provides a modest cooling route.

What gets cats into trouble is entrapment. Sheds, greenhouses, conservatories, tumble dryers, cars and cupboards. Cats seek warm enclosed places and are then shut in.

Panting in a cat is not a normal cooling response the way it is in a dog. A panting cat is either severely overheated, in respiratory distress from heart or lung disease, or in significant pain, and all three are same day problems.

Rabbits.

Rabbits are the species most often lost in hot weather and the one whose signs are most often missed. They cannot pant effectively. They lose heat through the ears, which carry large superficial blood vessels, and by lying stretched out on a cool surface.

Breed matters directly. A lop eared rabbit has less usable radiator surface than an upright eared one, and a heavily coated breed traps heat against the body.

Rabbits also face a second summer risk that compounds the first: flystrike. A rabbit that is hot, stressed and less mobile is more likely to have a soiled rear, and that is where flies lay.

Birds.

No sweat glands at all. A bird pants, flutters the muscles in its throat to move air over moist surfaces, holds its wings away from the body to expose the thin skin underneath, and directs blood to the unfeathered legs, feet and facial skin.

Because those bare areas are the radiator, cooling a bird is done by wetting the legs and feet and by moving air, not by soaking the body. A wet bird loses feather insulation and can then swing the other way into hypothermia.

Recognising it early, by species

Dog. Heavy panting that does not settle with rest, thick ropey saliva, bright red or dark gums, restlessness, unwillingness to continue, wobbling, vomiting or diarrhoea, then collapse and seizures.

Cat. Open mouth breathing, restlessness, seeking cool surfaces, drooling, unsteadiness, then collapse. Cats often show a change in breathing before anything else.

Rabbit. Fast shallow breathing, ears that feel hot, lying flat and stretched out, wet or reddened nostrils, reluctance to move, then unresponsiveness and seizures. Rabbits deteriorate quickly once they stop moving.

Bird. Open beak breathing, throat fluttering, wings held out from the body, feathers held flat against the body rather than fluffed, sitting low, then unsteadiness on the perch and collapse.

Across all four, the change in breathing comes first, and it is the sign to act on rather than the sign to watch.

Cooling, done correctly

Towels, water and a carrier ready in one place. In a heat emergency you do not want to be looking for any of it.

Dogs.

Current veterinary guidance supports rapid, aggressive cooling. Pour, hose or spray cool or cold water over the whole body, including the head, neck, chest and legs, and get air moving over the wet dog with a fan, a breeze or an open car window. Immersion in cool water is effective where it is available and safe to do.

The older advice to use only tepid water, on the grounds that cold water causes surface blood vessels to constrict, has been revised for dogs. Delay is the greater danger. What still applies is that a wet towel laid over a dog and left there insulates rather than cools, so towels must be constantly rewetted and removed, or not used at all.

Cool on the way. If someone else can drive, keep cooling in the car.

Cats.

Move to the coolest room. Wet the coat with a cool damp cloth, particularly the head, chest, abdomen and paw pads, and provide moving air. Do not immerse a cat, because the struggle raises body temperature and the stress is itself dangerous. Offer water but never pour it into the mouth.

Rabbits.

Cool the ears first with a cool damp cloth, and keep rewetting it. Move the rabbit to a cool, shaded, airy place, ideally onto a ceramic tile or a chilled surface. A frozen bottle wrapped in a towel placed beside the rabbit, not against bare skin, gives something to lie against.

Never immerse a rabbit in water. Rabbits panic when wet and struggling causes spinal injury, and the shock of immersion can be fatal on its own.

Birds.

Move the cage to shade and moving air. Wet the legs and feet with cool water. A fine mist over the body is acceptable for many species, but do not soak the bird and never use ice water. Do not put a fan blowing directly onto a small bird for a prolonged period.

All species.

Never use ice packs directly against skin. Never give ice to a collapsed animal to chew. Never force water into the mouth of an animal that is not fully conscious, because it will be inhaled. Do not use alcohol on the skin.

Setting the household up before the heat

Plan the cool room. Usually a north facing, ground floor, tiled or hard floored room with the curtains closed from early morning. Blinds and curtains closed before the sun hits the window works far better than closing them once the room is already hot.

Move enclosures before the day starts. Hutches, runs, cages and aviaries need shade that lasts all day, not shade that moves off them by mid morning. Remember that a shaded hutch against a sunny wall still absorbs radiated heat.

Provide cool surfaces. Ceramic tiles, marble offcuts, and a chilled damp towel on a hard floor for a dog to choose to lie on.

Frozen bottles, wrapped, in rabbit and small mammal enclosures. They must be able to move away from them.

Water everywhere. Multiple bowls, refreshed, in more than one room. Rabbits generally drink more from an open bowl than from a bottle, and in hot weather that difference matters. Add ice cubes to large bowls if the animal is used to them.

Airflow, with judgement. Fans help a dog with wet fur a great deal because they drive evaporation. They help less for animals that cannot wet their own coats. Never aim a fan directly and continuously at a small mammal or a bird.

Check outbuildings before locking them.

Change the dog's routine. Walk in the early morning or late evening, test the pavement with the back of your hand, and accept that on the hottest days no walk at all is the right answer. A dog misses a walk. A dog with heatstroke may not survive it.

Who is at highest risk

Brachycephalic dogs and cats, including bulldogs, French bulldogs, pugs, boxers and Persians.

Dogs with laryngeal paralysis, tracheal collapse, or any chronic airway disease. Older large breed dogs with a changed bark or noisy breathing may have undiagnosed laryngeal paralysis.

Overweight animals of every species, because fat insulates and increases the work of breathing.

Thick or double coated breeds, and long coated rabbits.

The very young and the very old.

Animals with heart disease, kidney disease or anaemia.

Any animal that has had heatstroke before. A previous episode raises the risk of another.

Lop eared rabbits, for the reason described above.

Black or dark coated animals in direct sun.

After the emergency

Gum colour and how quickly it returns after pressing are quick, useful checks in dogs and cats.

Heatstroke does not end when the temperature comes down. Heat damages the lining of blood vessels, the kidneys, the liver and the gut, and the consequences appear over the following one to three days. Clotting can fail, producing bleeding that starts a day later. Kidney injury may not be apparent until the animal stops producing urine.

This is why every animal that has had a genuine heat emergency needs veterinary assessment even if it appears normal within an hour, and why a vet may want to keep it in for monitoring and fluids.

Stop cooling once the animal is clearly improving and no longer distressed, because overshooting into hypothermia is a real complication, and small animals cool very fast once they are wet.

Watch for the following over the next few days and report them: not urinating, dark urine, vomiting, diarrhoea especially with blood, bruising or pinpoint spots on the gums or belly, and lethargy that returns.

Rabbits and guinea pigs need a specific extra check. Heat stress commonly stops them eating, and gut stasis follows within hours. Appetite and droppings are the things to monitor.

What never to do

Do not delay cooling in order to get to a vet faster.

Do not immerse rabbits, birds or small mammals.

Do not use ice, ice packs against skin, or iced water for small animals and birds.

Do not cover an animal with a wet towel and leave it in place.

Do not force water into the mouth of a collapsed animal.

Do not shave a double coated dog as a heat strategy without professional advice, because the coat also provides insulation against radiant heat and protects the skin.

Do not exercise a dog in heat, including ball throwing in the garden, which is exactly the sort of short intense activity that causes exertional heatstroke.

Do not muzzle a dog with a restrictive muzzle in hot weather. A dog must be able to pant fully.

Do not assume an animal in the shade is safe if the air itself is hot and still.

When to get help

Contact a vet immediately for collapse, unsteadiness, seizures, vomiting, bright red or very pale gums, open mouth breathing in a cat, a rabbit that has stopped moving, or any bird that cannot stay on its perch.

Contact a vet the same day for any animal that has been heat stressed and cooled, even if it appears well.

Recovery is a settled animal, breathing normally, drinking, and in rabbits and small mammals, eating again.

Tell the practice what happened, how long the animal was hot, what you did to cool it and for how long, and whether it has collapsed, vomited or seizured. If you have a temperature reading, give it, but never delay cooling in order to take one.