Landcruiser
Well-Known Member
We have an almost 13 yr old collie lurcher who is a picture of health and fitness. Last night I thought we were going to lose him - he got heatstroke, and had a zoom to the vets where I work, (literally 3 minutes from where we live thank goodness) and a night in the emergency vets - also had a VERY bad hair cut where we were failing to wet him whilst trying to cool him, his coat is so thick and waterproof. Thankfully he's now fully recovered, but I thought I'd post this as a reminder to be vigilant.
Yesterday was cool here, and overcast. In the afternoon it cleared up and got pretty hot, maybe 24-5?. We have a big garden with lots of shade, water for the dogs always available inside and out, the house door was open so dogs could choose where to be.
They'd had their walk in the morning. We hadn't especially noticed where he was, he's quite an independent soul and often takes himself to lie on a bed or behind a sofa - but he does like to lie in the sun too. He was called for his tea about 6. The other two dogs tucked into theirs but he just stood over his looking...weird. Just a bit spacey. I checked his gums - fine...but noticed he seemed a bit wobbly in his back end. Big red flags were waving and I checked his temperature (103.7F/39.8). That was enough so I called ahead, then we bundled him up to the vets, where they were waiting to start cooling him. Full bloods showed no infection, so my gut feeling had been right, confirmed heatstroke. His temp actually continued to rise despite lots of cool/cold water and a drip and I/V paracetamol (got up to 40.5) which was very scary. I suggested shaving him, so that's what we did, and it did the trick, finally. Once he was back down to 39.5 we risked a run to the overnight vets to continue his IV (as my own wonderful vets/nurses had already stayed on for well over an hour after 7pm closing time by then).
Vet's Now called us about an hour after dropping him off to let us know his temp had dropped to 38.7 and he was doing very well. This morning we collected him and he's back to normal, had eaten and all fine (but he's not going back to that hairdresser - he looks an absolute fright
.
So please, please be careful, the forecast this weekend is for 30 degrees in places. I never thought I'd be caught out by this, but it just goes to show. Thankfully my many years working as a vet receptionist gave me enough experience to spot the signs early and act quickly, but it could so easily have gone downhill fast.
Yesterday was cool here, and overcast. In the afternoon it cleared up and got pretty hot, maybe 24-5?. We have a big garden with lots of shade, water for the dogs always available inside and out, the house door was open so dogs could choose where to be.
They'd had their walk in the morning. We hadn't especially noticed where he was, he's quite an independent soul and often takes himself to lie on a bed or behind a sofa - but he does like to lie in the sun too. He was called for his tea about 6. The other two dogs tucked into theirs but he just stood over his looking...weird. Just a bit spacey. I checked his gums - fine...but noticed he seemed a bit wobbly in his back end. Big red flags were waving and I checked his temperature (103.7F/39.8). That was enough so I called ahead, then we bundled him up to the vets, where they were waiting to start cooling him. Full bloods showed no infection, so my gut feeling had been right, confirmed heatstroke. His temp actually continued to rise despite lots of cool/cold water and a drip and I/V paracetamol (got up to 40.5) which was very scary. I suggested shaving him, so that's what we did, and it did the trick, finally. Once he was back down to 39.5 we risked a run to the overnight vets to continue his IV (as my own wonderful vets/nurses had already stayed on for well over an hour after 7pm closing time by then).
Vet's Now called us about an hour after dropping him off to let us know his temp had dropped to 38.7 and he was doing very well. This morning we collected him and he's back to normal, had eaten and all fine (but he's not going back to that hairdresser - he looks an absolute fright
.So please, please be careful, the forecast this weekend is for 30 degrees in places. I never thought I'd be caught out by this, but it just goes to show. Thankfully my many years working as a vet receptionist gave me enough experience to spot the signs early and act quickly, but it could so easily have gone downhill fast.
and he’s been lying in the sun a bit, I think it would be very easy for him to get too hot from that as he’s very dark, and doddery. Luckily he likes to be with me, but I’ll be managing outing even more than usual. As an aside he woke me at 5.30 this morning (I love my dog, I love my dog, I love my dog…) and it was absolutely glorious out. It would have been just as pleasant at 6.15 of course… but our walks this weekend will definitely be early ones.
