When you’re moving house, pets can become distressed. They don’t understand what’s happening and can become exhausted and confused. At this time of year, they can also become hot, and that’s dangerous.
We all know that you must never leave your dog in your vehicle along, even for short periods. When it’s 22C outside it can be as high as 47C inside a car within 60 minutes. But this doesn’t apply just to dogs and you should be careful to make sure your animals have plenty of water and attention when moving.
Although dogs pants to keep cool, in hot cars it’s not enough and they can’t get cooler. Leaving windows open or covering windows is not sufficient to keep your dog, or other pet, cool, and they could die. Animals get heat stroke, just like humans, if their body temperature if too high and won’t come down.
The RSPCA provides the following list of symptoms to keep an eye out for:
- Vomiting
- Diarrhoea
- Lethargy
- Lack of coordination
- Profuse salivation
- Reluctance/inability to rise after collapsing
- Very red gums/tongue
- Loss of consciousness
- Heavy panting
- Rapid pulse
There are lots of other things you can do at this time of year to care for and protect your pets too, such as making them ice lollies made from their favourite food, grooming them to help regulate their temperature, applying sun cream (yes, animals can get sun cream too and your vet can advise which products are appropriate for your animal), making sure they have plenty of shade and even hosing them down from time to time if they don’t mind the water.
Remember, moving house is a busy time for all, and for your beloved pets it can be just as tiring and exhausting as for you, if not more so.
If you ever see a dog in a hot car alone, you can find out more about what to do from the RSPCA here. But aways contact an animal welfare organisation or individual urgently!
