Protect your pet from sweltering heat

July 6, 2012 - PRLog -- (Chillicothe, Oho, July 6, 2012) – It’s a warm day and you’re on the way in to the grocery store to pick up a loaf of bread. In the parking lot you pass a Yorkie panting inside a locked car. You should:
A.   Smile and acknowledge the cute pet.
B.   Run into the grocery store and page the dog’s owner.
C.   Buy the dog a treat.

If you chose “B,” then you chose wisely, according to Petland. The panting Yorkie may be minutes from death -- a victim of heatstroke. You need to get the Yorkie out of the car and reduce its body temperature.

 “Every year, thousands of pets die from overexposure to heat. It’s usually because their owners leave their pets in cars while they shop or run a quick errand,” said Brian Winslow, director of Animal Welfare Education for Petland, Inc. in Chillicothe, Ohio. “It doesn’t have to be extremely hot outdoors for a pet to suffer heatstroke inside a car.”

According to Petland, leaving a pet inside a closed automobile for just 10 to 20 minutes is risky on an 80-degree day as temperatures can quickly rise to 120 degrees Fahrenheit inside -- enough heat to kill a pet. With recent sweltering heat across the nation, it is even more imperative to protect your pets from the risk of heatstroke. Even 10 minutes inside a hot car is enough to cause exhaustive heatstroke in cats and small dogs. Rabbits, hamsters and birds have even less of a chance for survival.

An open window? No good.

Leaving windows wide open in the car is not the answer. Additional dangers come with that option. Your pet may jump out of the vehicle and become a traffic casualty. Also leaving the windows open “just a crack” isn’t enough to prevent heatstroke.

Heatstroke can be prevented quite easily if you follow one Petland rule.
“We always advise leaving pets at home when running errands on warm days,” Winslow said.
If it is not possible to leave your pet at home, then Petland offers the following precautions to combat heatstroke during short trips:
• Run errands during cooler times of the day -- dawn or dusk.
• Leave all car windows rolled down with pet secured inside the vehicle in a kennel or with a travel saftey belt or seat.
• Carry a gallon jug of fresh, cool water from home along with a bowl from
which your pet may drink.
• Check on your pet’s condition every 10 minutes.

Pets left outdoors during periods of intense heat also are vulnerable to heatstroke. Outdoor pets always must have a supply of fresh, cool drinking water and places to rest out of direct sunlight.

Heatstroke in a pet is easy to diagnose early on. Some first signs are quite visible.
They include excessive panting, salivation and a racing pulse. The pet also will have a
high body temperature and may vomit. In latter stages of heatstroke, the pet lapses into a coma. At this point, the pet can suffer brain damage and die.

When a pet experiences some of the warning signs of heatstroke, it may be too risky to just drive the pet to a veterinarian.

“At Petland, we always advise trying to lower the pet’s body temperature on the way to the vet,” Winslow said.

Submerging a pet’s body in cool water or pouring cool water over its body can help. Ice packs, if available, can be used to lower body temperature, too. Pet owners also should rinse the pet’s mouth with cool water, offering ice chips or very small amounts of water to drink. It is best to keep cool water or cold packs on the heat-exhausted pet until reaching the veterinarian. The medical professional can then take a temperature reading and thoroughly examine the pet.

Petland, Inc. is a franchise operation with more than 150 quality, full service, retail, pet centers across the United States, Canada, Japan, Mexico, China, South Africa and Israel. For more information on Petland, please visit the company's website at www.petland.com.