I suggested in my last post taking your pets for a ride in an air conditioned car to cool down during a heat wave. I want to add a big caution to that idea.
This time of year one of the major risks to pets is heat exhaustion, or heat stroke, so I want to talk about a subject most of already know a little about. The heat build-up inside a car. The thing is, most of us DON’T know how quickly the heat builds even with windows open, or how dangerous the heat is on a sunny day that feels relatively cool outside. Here’s what I learned in the process of becoming a pet first aid instructor and doing further research:
A dog’s or cat’s normal temperature range is 100.4 to 102.5. If left in a confined space without cooling or good ventilation, their body temperature can rise to dangerous levels within minutes.
Here are the findings of a research project done by Catherine McLaren, MD, Jan Null, CCM, and James Quinn, MD, reported in Pediatrics July 1, 2005: Regardless of the outside ambient temperature, the temperature inside a vehicle increased by an average of 3.2 degrees every five minutes [the ambient temperatures in this study were in the 70s]. The majority of the increase happens in the first 15-30 minutes. Even at the coolest outside temperature , the internal temperatures reached 117 degrees in these tests. Importantly, the researchers noted that cracking the windows open did not decrease the temperature rise in the car.
This means that even in the early spring or late fall, when the outside temperature is cool but the sun is shining directly on the car, heat inside the car can reach lethal levels in the few minutes it takes you to dash into the supermarket to pick up a few groceries. Imagine how fast it builds to killer levels on a 90 degree day, even with the windows open.
The take-home message is that we should never leave our pets in the car even for a few minutes on a sunny day.
In my next blog I will talk about signs of heat stroke and what to do to save your pet’s life.
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