09/07/2023
‼️🚨 Heat Advisory in effect. The grooming room will be kept nice and cool for your pups 🐾 if either you/your pup isn’t feeling well because of heat and has an appointment TODAY/TOMORROW ** Please Call /text me(207)651-2003 I have saved availability for them next week in case . Thankyou ❤️🐾
Heat Stroke is NO JOKE!
You’ll watch veterinary staff faces fall when a limp dog comes in with the owner pleading for help, “He got overheated!!” The odds aren’t good. Heat stroke can cause seizures, organ failure, and death.
Heat stroke is defined, in veterinary medicine, as a body temperature reaching over ~105°F. Unlike humans, who have sweat glands designed to aid in cooling, dogs have few sweat glands, and their main cooling mechanisms for heat release are panting and dilating their internal blood vessels.
there are a number of common causes of heatstroke in dogs: being confined in a vehicle, play or exercise in high heat, and long periods outside without free access to shade and water.
All dogs are susceptible! But some are at higher risk. Brachycephalic breeds like pugs and frenchies, overweight dogs, and dogs with thicker and darker coats are at increased risk.
So what can you do??
1. Get a good thermometer! Learn your dog’s normal temperature. Normal is around 101-102.5F. Highly athletic dogs may tolerate higher temperatures, but you won’t know until you learn your dog. Take their temperature before play, during play, and once they’ve cooled down. It sounds extreme but it’s not. Know your dog.
2. Try to play and exercise outside in the cooler parts of the day, early morning and in the evening.
3. Stay off of hot concrete and hot pavement. Stick to grassy areas and if possible, stay under the cover of trees and in the shade.
4. Watch for warning signs. If your dog is seeking out shade, won’t return the toy, gums/tongue are becoming bright red, saliva is sticky, stop and go cool off. That could only mean 5 minutes. Don’t have an agenda. Offer water regularly. Learn when your dog will and won’t drink water.
5. Take immediate, emergency action if your dog becomes lethargic, begins to stumble or has difficulty maintaining balance, or won’t get up from laying down, seems confused or has difficulty breathing.
Emergency actions: on the way to the emergency vet, call ahead while you are soaking down your dog in cool, but not icy water. Use air conditioning or fan them to encourage evaporative cooling. Pay special attention to their neck, under their legs and groin, where big blood vessels live. Make sure to keep their airway clear of drool and their tongue, using a towel to wipe it out if necessary.
