Heatstroke is deadly for pets who wait for their owners locked inside a car in summer
Cars in summer are deadly traps for the cats and dogs that wait inside for their masters. On a day when the thermometer reads 32 ºC, inside a vehicle parked in the sun the temperature can reach 70 ºC in less than 10 minutes. Heat stroke is a very serious danger to animals. Every summer, dogs and cats die in cars at high temperatures when their owners make the mistake of leaving them in the parking lot alone for a few minutes while they run an errand. Therefore, animal protection associations, and even sports stars, warn of the dangers of heat stroke inside the car for dogs and cats in summer and explain how to avoid it.
Heat stroke, the car is dangerous for dogs and cats
Every summer, cats and dogs die in hot cars while their owners make the mistake of leaving them in the parking lot “alone for a few minutes” while they run an errand. Cars parked in summer are deadly traps for the pets waiting inside. And is that during a moderately hot day of 26 ºC, the temperature inside the vehicle can rise to around 49 ºC in just a few minutes. But not only that. On a hot day in July or August in Spain, where the thermometer reads 32ºC, inside the parked vehicle the temperature can reach 70ºC in less than 10 minutes.
The heat inside a parked car can cause significant brain damage, including the death of the dog or feline in just 15 minutes. Since dogs and cats cannot break a sweat , as we humans do, it is enough that the temperature reaches 40 ºC for their vital organs to begin to fail, endangering the health and life of the animal. What can you do when you find an animal trapped in someone else’s vehicle? Call the local police officers so they can contact the owner and unlock the car, if necessary.
Heat stroke in cats and dogs: travel
Heatstroke consists of an elevation in the body temperature of the dog or cat, which exceeds the tolerable limits for its organism. A temperature above 40 ºC already puts the animal’s life at serious risk. The damage of heat stroke in dogs and cats depends on the body temperature reached and the time it has been maintained. Some first aid can save the life of the animal when the heat stroke occurs.
However, it is best to take preventive measures to avoid it. Among them, at home you must ensure that the animal always has clean and fresh water at its disposal, avoid direct exposure to the sun, as well as exercise in hot weather.
Experts, however, warn that car interiors are especially dangerous. For this reason, when traveling with dogs or cats by car, you must turn on the air conditioning, open the windows or place bags of ice in the animal’s carrier to prevent its body temperature from increasing. And, under no circumstances, can the dog or cat be left alone in the vehicle, because in a few minutes it can become a death trap for the animal.