How to keep your cat cool? Cats cannot tolerate the temperature. National Research Council reported that a domestic cat has a thermo neutral zone from 30 to 38 degree C. Sometimes, cats will seek out hot spots to laze in gardens or window sills.
When the body temperature increases, cats will seek a cool and comfortable area such as a shaded room. However, when your feline is feeling the heat, it is important to use these useful tips on how to keep your cat cool.
Don’t Let Your Cats Become Dehydrated
Even for Scottish fold cats, they do not drink much because they can get it from their food. But, it is important to provide freshwater sources for them, inside and outside of your house. For cats with dry food, providing freshwater is more important because they cannot get it from their food.
On the other hand, letting your cats become dehydrated will lead to health issues. Here is some prevention to do:
- Make sure that your cats get access to multiple water bowls
- Refresh the water regularly
- Adding an ice cube is useful to keep the water cool
Keep Cat Cool By Providing A Retreat
Cats will seek out a cool spot because they are sensible. You could provide some sheltered areas. For example, a parasol has a shaded area in the garden. Here, your cats could join you and relax. Other than that, you could add baths, basins, or stone floors to give a cool sleeping area. Even better, you could buy cooling pads in the cat’s sleeping area.
Keep Calm
Keep your cat cool by maintaining a calm and quiet area. If you are living with kids, make sure to discourage them from picking up the cat and carry it during hot weather. Sometimes, your cats do not want to play during the hot weather. If they do, you should move their toys to a shaded area.
Aware of Heatstroke
It is also popular as hyperthermia, a medical condition related to internal organs in cat (lungs, kidneys, liver, heart, and brain) stop working because of the elevated body temperature. This condition happens due to humidity and high temperatures.
Here are the signs of heatstroke in cats:
- Rapid panting
- Dark red-colored gums
- Bright red-colored tongue
- Salivating
- Weakness
- Anxiety
- Lethargy
- Dizziness
- Muscle tremors
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Bleeding from cat’s nose
Please call your vet immediately to get professional help if you notice those symptoms. You could prevent heatstroke by noticing the early signs such as licking and panting.
If you think that your cat is always doing it during the hot weather, keep the cat cool by moving them to a cool area immediately. Use a damp cloth to cool them off. Those are all useful guidelines on how to keep cat cool during summer.