Hi I have three indoor cats all under a year old.

Outside today the temp reached 27C but in our house it gets hotter then that and I cant work out why, we have fans on and windows open, and I even put ice cubes in their water.

It is still very hot in here and it is 10pm! They are panting alot and very agitated and fed up, but Ive run out of things to do to cool them down, I feel sorry and guilty for them, oh and one of them is pg if this makes any difference.

Any advice welcome

Sarah

Hi I have three indoor cats all under a year old.

Outside today the temp reached 27C but in our house it gets hotter then that and I cant work out why, we have fans on and windows open, and I even put ice cubes in their water.

It is still very hot in here and it is 10pm! They are panting alot and very agitated and fed up, but Ive run out of things to do to cool them down, I feel sorry and guilty for them, oh and one of them is pg if this makes any difference.

Any advice welcome

Sarah

Any of ur cas have long fur? If so, a lion cut/shave might help (shaving most of their fur)... Hope others will have other suggestions on this also.

give them ice cbe to play with or freeze the spring water ot of tna cans and give that to them as a frozen treat.

you cold also freeze other things and make kitty popsicles!

Well it looks like two of your babies have long hair. It never gets too hot here in NZ but when it's hot we do the ice cubes, and just make sure they have lots of dark shady spots to be in.

Hi, One thing you didn't mention that is very important is the relative humidity where you are. If you live in a dry or relatively dry climate, you can create an ad-hoc swamp cooler by placing a damp thin towel over a fan. Check on it every 20-30 min and re-moisten when dry. (don't laugh, this has worked for me many times.

If you live in a humid climate, well you could get a dehumidifier, but for a couple hundred more, look into a portable a/c unit. such as

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7067336&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat13300050015&id=1108125946096

Hope this helps. I hate being too hot as well, at least when it's too cold you can light the sofa on fire to keep warm :idea: :lol3: :lol3: Just kidding, I've not done that.....yet

I have 2 Persians - long haired and they just got their summer lion-cuts. It makes all the difference. They are much more active without all that hair on them. Not sure if your guys are long or short.

(posted pics of their cuts under Lounge/Fur Pics.)

When it was really hot and humid here in Toronto last week, I didn't know what do in the end and put my cat in the shower. I wet her whole body, not the head though, she struggled at first but enjoyed it a few seconds later.
She cooled down and looked much better afterwards...
I don't know if that was a good idea or not, if not I hope somebody will tell me so here, but perhaps that is an option.

When I had my rabbit we used to freeze milk cartons full of water and set them around. When she got hot (which can be a huge problem for rabbits) she's just hang around the milk jugs. We had one incident when our electricity went out on a very hot day while we were at work, and she was really overheated when we got home. I drew a shallow bath of lukewarm water (NOT cold) and gave her a bath in it. It worked right away, but I don't know if a cat would let you do it.

I found a couple of sites that may help you:

AVMA Information (http://www.avma.org/careforanimals/animatedjourneys/livingwithpets/seasonal.asp)
Animal Help Information (http://www.animalhelp.com/library/articledetail.cfm?artid=6)
Purina Information (http://www.purinaone.com/catcare_cond_atoz_article.asp?Seed=785&ArticleNumber=74)
About.com Information (http://cats.about.com/cs/catmanagement101/a/heatstroke.htm)

Looks like you've gotten some good advice already. :) I'll move this to Care & Grooming.

Thanks ever so much for all your advice I will put different things into action and report back if necessary, just a thing that is worrying me is that they are panting and have rapid breathing and are refusing to drink?

Thanks Again

Sarah

PS two of my cats are long haired for those that asked

Thanks ever so much for all your advice I will put different things into action and report back if necessary, just a thing that is worrying me is that they are panting and have rapid breathing and are refusing to drink?

Thanks Again

Sarah

PS two of my cats are long haired for those that asked

If they are refusing to drink, I think that's a very bad sign and would call the vet to check in with them at least... Just to be safe..

In very hot weather Dushka and Ellie (this is Persil's first summer) will not drink from their bowld because the water gets warm too quickly. They prefer to drink from a running cold faucet or from the garden waterfall.

In very hot weather Dushka and Ellie (this is Persil's first summer) will not drink from their bowld because the water gets warm too quickly. They prefer to drink from a running cold faucet or from the garden waterfall.

Mine like to drink from my own glass!!!

Obviously I let them do it as they are thirsty!

Sarah

i definantely say ice in the water bowl :-), i like someones idea of the frozen water filled milk jugs. And since they are long haired getting the fur cut is a good idea too

One thing you can try is to put a wet towel in the direction of a fan. They can lay on it and the towel should remain fairly cool. My cats also like ice in their water in the summer. If you use a large porcelain or metal bowl and put lots of ice in it, it should last a long time.

Hi, One thing you didn't mention that is very important is the relative humidity where you are. If you live in a dry or relatively dry climate, you can create an ad-hoc swamp cooler by placing a damp thin towel over a fan. Check on it every 20-30 min and re-moisten when dry. (don't laugh, this has worked for me many times.

:flail: I do this in my cat cuz my air conditioner is broken. Hey, it works! :lol:

If you're at work all day then it will still help to put a wet towel over the fan. It will also help to put a wet towel on the floor fairly close to the fan. The fan will keep the towell/water cooled.

If your house is getting hot and staying hot I would suspect that you don't have enough ventilation in your attic. Temps in an enclosed attic can very easily get to 130*F (54*C), so it is imperative that there is a good airflow through there to drop it to something reasonable.

Cindy
Mom to Narsil, Mithril and Kellie da Peke

One way of making them drink water is to wet their front paws - again and again. Then they will lick their paws not even knowing they are drinking water!

We've had unusually high temperatures and high humidity here in the Toronto area lately and I gotta tell ya - I'm not used to it! I'd rather be cold and have to put on a sweater.

Anyway, yesterday we let Bijou out on his leash and he didn't even want to stay outside in the shade.

We gave both he and Mika a bath and they were wonderful about it - no bites or scratches and they cooled off quite nicely.

One way of making them drink water is to wet their front paws - again and again. Then they will lick their paws not even knowing they are drinking water!
Of course, the expression you'll see on their faces is, "Here comes that crazy woman to dip our paws in water again. I don't know what's wrong with her, but she's really cheesing me off!" :flail: