If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Leading cats to water inspires them to drink
Posted on Tue, Jul. 25, 2006 GARY BOGUE Leading cats to water inspires them to drink The hot summer wind, Tired from chasing hapless clouds, Rests in the treetops. -- haiku by Lura Osgood, Pleasant Hill MELTED CATS ... During this amazing heat wave, indoor cats often lack the energy to go find their water dishes and get a drink. I recognized those symptoms in our cats, Tut and Newman, when the outside air around our house in Benicia started to smolder at around 110 degrees F on Saturday. We don't normally need air conditioning in Benicia, so we don't have it. By 10 a.m. it was 90 degrees inside our house and I had fans everywhere to keep the air circulating. Our "Cat Room," a bedroom downstairs just off the garage, is the coolest room in the house and it was a pleasant 80 degrees. But you know cats. We were upstairs where it was hot, so that was the place to be. Air movement helps, but it's also important for the animals to drink water so they don't get dehydrated. Cats unfortunately aren't the best water drinkers in the world and I was getting concerned. Tut and Newman had melted into two puddles of fur on the hardwood floor in our family room. I placed a floor fan on each side of the fur puddles and turned them on. I swear I saw little waves caused by the moving air. Now the trick was to get them to drink some water. Cats are insanely curious and I decided to try and take advantage of that feline "quality." I got 10 small bowls from a kitchen cabinet and filled them with cool water. Then I placed then all over the house, in spots the cats liked to frequent. I also put bowls by the fur puddles. The puddles instantly turned back into cats and started checking out the dishes of water. Food? Better taste it and make sure. Nope, just water. Then they spotted the other dishes and went to check them out and by the time they finished, both cats were so full of water they gurgled when they walked. Every couple of hours during the day I dumped and refilled all the water dishes and both cats dutifully followed me around the house to check the bowls and make sure they weren't missing out on anything good. I wonder if something like that would work for us overheated humans? .... AND HOT RABBITS Gary: With this hot weather, we (House Rabbit Society) received many calls on how to keep rabbits cool, since they are very sensitive to heat and can die from heat stroke. 1. First and foremost, bring them inside if they are outdoors! 2. Give them access to frozen water bottles (to lie next to). 3. Ice cubes in their water. 4. Give them tile or marble to lie on, or access to the bathroom floor (carpet is typically warmer), and wire cage bottoms are always a no-no. 5. Freeze a piece of tile or marble for your bun to lie on. 6. If a fan is placed for the rabbit, make sure it can escape the direct blow of the fan. 7. Give greens during the day, for water. 8. Mist your rabbit's ears to cool him down. 9. For those lucky ones that have free roam of the house, they know where to go to get cool. Mine have been lying on the air conditioning vents. 10. Take your rabbit to the vet at the first signs of heat stroke. Remember that rabbits can die very quickly. (Suzi, a volunteer at House Rabbit Society and SaveABunny) OVERHEATING SIGNS Signs of pet overheating: Excessive panting, glazed eyes, acting disoriented, vomiting, and/or a deep red or purple tongue. If your pet has any of these symptoms, give it a cool bath, and get the animal to your vet for help ASAP. You might call for advice first. Find more Gary in his blog at: blogs.www.contracostatimes.com/gary_bogue; write Gary, P.O. Box 8099, Walnut Creek, CA 94596-8099; old columns at www.contracostatimes.com, click on Columnists |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
rec.pets.cats: Norwegian Forest Cat Breed-FAQ | Bjorn Steensrud | Cat Information | 0 | May 21st 06 05:22 AM |
rec.pets.cats: Traditional Siamese Breed-FAQ | Laura Gilbreath | Cat Information | 0 | January 18th 06 05:47 AM |
rec.pets.cats: Norwegian Forest Cat Breed-FAQ | Bjorn Steensrud | Cat Information | 0 | December 19th 05 05:36 AM |
Another forward | Nanny | Cat anecdotes | 0 | September 4th 05 08:31 PM |
Cat predation studies | Alison | Cat health & behaviour | 48 | February 5th 04 03:17 AM |