{"id":566,"date":"2017-02-22T12:59:50","date_gmt":"2017-02-22T12:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/garretpachtinger.com\/wordpress\/?p=566"},"modified":"2017-02-22T13:00:38","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T13:00:38","slug":"heat-stroke-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/garretpachtinger.com\/wordpress\/heat-stroke-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"70 Degrees in February? Can you say HEAT STROKE for dogs!"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are living on the East Coast right now…the unseasonably warm temperatures have everyone very excited!<\/p>\n

\"\"70 degrees<\/a> in February?!?!<\/p>\n

While everyone is putting on their flip flops and going for 3 mile walks…this can be one of the most dangerous times for our four-legged friends!<\/p>\n

This time of the years is the most concerning time for Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke for dogs!!!<\/p>\n

Similar to the concept of couch to 5K<\/a>…you would never go for a 5k run after not running for the winter.<\/p>\n

Our pets are the same! They are not ready quite yet for the heat (and potentially humidity!)<\/p>\n

Remember:<\/b>
\n– Dog fur is great protection against the cold, but traps heat!
\n– Early in the year they have not yet acclimated to warmer temperatures.
\n– Dog’s don’t really sweat! Dogs eliminate heat by panting.<\/p>\n

Signs to watch for:<\/b>
\n– Excessive panting, especially at unexpected times such as resting or lying down
\n– Pacing
\n– Red (not pink) gums
\n– Vomiting, diarrhea
\n– Collapse \/ weakness<\/p>\n

\"\"If you are concerned your dog has heat related illness, what should you do?<\/b>
\n– Remove the dog from the (hot) environment immediately.
\n– Call your veterinarian immediately
\n– Use a hose or shower with cool (NOT cold) water to help reduce your dog’s temperature
\n– If possible, take your dog’s temperature. A normal temperature is 100\u00b0F-102.5\u00b0F. If you are cooling your dog, stop the cooling therapies when the temperature is 103\u00b0F.<\/p>\n

IMPORTANT:<\/b> Seek immediate veterinary attention. Heatstroke can be a life threatening illness that affects the kidneys, gastrointestinal tract, brain, and even causes excessive bleeding.<\/p>\n

How can we prevent heat stroke? <\/b>
\n– Remember, especially at this time of the year, dogs are not ready for the heat. Similar to the training of an olympic athlete months prior to the event, dogs need time to acclimate to the heat. Let them get used to the warmer temperatures before they have significant activity. Heck…you wouldn’t do the Broad Street Run<\/a> in Philadelphia without any training…would you?
\n– Make sure we NEVER leave a dog in a car without supervision – and NEVER with the windows up!
\n– Pay careful attention to dogs with airway diseases and breeds with shortened faces (e.g., the Pug, Bulldog, Shi Tzu).
\n– Always make sure when our pets are outside they have an area with shade, water, and supervision to know if they are having any signs of distress.<\/p>\n

Knowledge is power!
\nGarret Pachtinger, VMD, DACVECC
\nBoard Certified Emergency and Critical Care Specialist
\nCo-Founder, VETgirl<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are living on the East Coast right now…the unseasonably warm temperatures have everyone very excited! 70 degrees in February?!?! While everyone is putting on their flip flops and going for 3 mile walks…this can be one of the most dangerous times for our four-legged friends! This time of the years is the most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/garretpachtinger.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/garretpachtinger.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/garretpachtinger.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/garretpachtinger.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/garretpachtinger.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"http:\/\/garretpachtinger.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":588,"href":"http:\/\/garretpachtinger.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566\/revisions\/588"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/garretpachtinger.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/garretpachtinger.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/garretpachtinger.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/garretpachtinger.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}