Every year, in the summer season, there are cases of heat stroke, which is one of the fatal causes of our pets.

High temperatures can cause the body temperature to rise above normal – reaching over 40ºC – causing our animal to absorb more heat than it can dissipate, which can lead to multiple organ failure and, consequently, death.

Unlike humans, dogs do not sweat through their skin.

To maintain its body temperature, the dog usually looks for cool surfaces or shady places. When it cannot do this, pulmonary ventilation increases and the dog breathes in panting – it begins to pant. Unfortunately this cooling mechanism is much less effective than perspiration.

On high temperature days, there are recommendations that we must take into account and that, in addition to helping our animal to tolerate high temperatures better, can save its life:

1. Always have clean and fresh water available;
2. Maintain air circulation or ventilation in the places where we have our pet (inside the house, in the car, etc.);
3. Always provide shade in places of rest (balconies without a place of shade are prohibitive when the heat is unbearable);
4. Never leave our pet alone in the car in the sun or with the windows closed;
5. During a car trip, we must keep the windows open for air to circulate or keep the air conditioning on. In addition to these precautions, we must stop at least every 2 hours so that our friend can drink some fresh water;
6. We must never leave our animal stuck in the sun, without having any shade available;
7. We cannot exercise the animal during the hottest hours – between 11 am and 5 pm.

The animals most susceptible to heat stroke are:

• Very young animals or with an advanced age;
• The flat-nosed breeds – such as the French or English bulldog – because they cannot ventilate as efficiently;
• Long and/or thick fur animals;
• Overweight animals;
• Animals that have heart, vascular or respiratory problems.

We should never leave our animal exposed to the sun or closed in a hot place!

These are the signs that we should be aware of in our animal:

1. Hypersalivation – when our dog drools a lot;
2. Panting – when our dog starts panting non-stop;
3. The dog's skin is too hot;
4. When the dog has an accelerated heartbeat;
5. The dog's rectal temperature is elevated;
6. When our dog is tired and has muscle weakness or was almost without reaction (shock), most likely he has a heat stroke. Faced with this situation, we must wet his whole body with cold water – but not ice cold – to try to cool him down or wrap him in wet towels and take him to the vet as soon as possible, as his life could be at risk.

We must always remember that heat stroke is a veterinary emergency.

If we do not ignore these recommendations, we will have a happy summer with our partner.