Sweltering July 28, 2006 ~ 1:28 pm
Posted by Julie in : Da Cats , trackbackIt’s hot and humid and EH here in the city today, and since we’re still on the four-day-workweek schedule in my office I spent a good part of the morning melting on the couch before I caved and turned on the a/c. The cats, they are hot too. So hot that they are camped out in the bathroom on the tile and in the tub. Joe’s worrying me lately; his little ears are hot, I catch him panting a couple times a day, and I think his nose is running (although who the hell can tell - cat noises are supposed to be moist, aren’t they?). I don’t know if this is just his reaction to the heat, or if he’s actually sick. And there is no money at the moment to take him to the vet, especially if he’s not actually sick. He’s running around like normal, still eating and drinking, but from what I’ve googled, hot ears are bad in cats. *sigh* I guess I’ll just keep watching him and see what happens.
At least the a/c is kicking in now.
Comments
Is Joe sneezing? If so he may have an upper respiratory infection. One of my cats broke out in one a few weeks ago and I haven’t foggiest idea where he got it from as he’s strictly indoors and hasn’t had any contact with strange cats except for his “brother” who is also an indoor cat.
If it is a URI you don’t need to rush him to the vet, but you do need to keep an eye on him. If you find that he is sneezing all over himself like he has a cold, call your vet and ask for the right dose of regular asprin to give him.
Don’t treat him yourself!!!! Asprin is toxic to cats but it can be given once in a very, very small dose. The asprin will help break his fever if he has one.
If the infection gets too bad you may need to have him seen as when cats lose their sense of smell due to congestion, they often go off of feed and water and you really don’t want to deal with that.
As for his ears being red, cats ears turn red when they are hot whether it’s because it’s hot in the house, they have a fever or even just from running around and playing.
As long as he’s eating, drinking and acting like himself, with no vomiting or diarrhea, don’t worry about it too much. Just keep tabs on the runny nose.
Oreo was sick for about a week before his symptoms completely cleared, but he never stopped eating or drinking. He’s 13 so it took him awhile to feel 100% but he’s back to his old self now.
While he was sick he acted like a lethergic, worn out snob. I knew he was feeling better when he started begging for veggies and following me around the house.
I hate this stupid weather, it’s making me VERY grumpy.
Anyway, I don’t know about cats, but I do know dogs have no sweat glands. Panting is their only way of cooling off and you do NOT want to get them overheated. What I sometimes do for Ally is put cold water on her back, (just enough to make her damp not wet,) and that cools her off. Maybe it will work for Joe?
Good luck! Oh and have I mentioned that my last Con Ed bill damn near bankrupted me???
Wow–Stacy rocks! What a great comment; but I hope Joe’s just hot and you don’t end up needing to know any of the rest of it…
Sorry ’bout the heat there. I do not envy you that. This morning, I had to shut my window and pull up the blanket on my bed. Then when I got up, I actually had to put on a robe. It was a tad chilly here. YAY!
Poor Joe! Well, poor you too and everyone who is dealing with this heat wave. Call your local animal shelter, sometimes they will provide cheap or free service for pets in need. It can’t hurt to have him looked at.
Have a great and cool weekend! Lois Lane
Gonna be hot as hell this weekend. However, we’re going to an amusement park Sunday with a water park for a company picnic. Gues where I’m going to spend the day with the kids?
I think as long as the cat is acting normal other than being hot, you’re probably ok.
Dogs sweat through their noses - do cats?
Stacy~Thanks, I knew you would know what to do! I’ve heard him sneeze once or twice, but other than that, nothing. And his nose looks better today than it did yesterday - not wet (although still moist). I gave him some canned food today as a treat (go figure, the diabetic one won’t eat it, but Joe will!), and he was all over it. He is still eating their regular dry food (Iams Kitten, as per the vet and Jesse being picky) and drinking water, and he’s very interested in playing, so maybe I was just worrying over nothing? After all, it is hot here and he’s 15. I’ll continue to keep an eye on him…are there other signs of a URI besides the sneezing?
Lisa~I am NOT looking forward to this month’s Con Ed bill. I’ve been running the a/c much more than I did last month, and last month’s was $95! And today, when it’s really hot and humid, where am I going? Out in the sun - I’m going to the Aquarium at Coney Island. I’m obviously brain damaged. Good idea about the water, though. Joe’s not a big fan of water, but maybe he’ll be okay with a damp cloth.
Aimee~I hate you and your chilly weather. Send some of it here. As I moaned to Rick last night “It’s not even August yet, what’s that going to be like?”
Lois~Calling the animal shelter is a great idea if Joe gets worse. I love my vet, but he is mad expensive. And with the diabetic wonder kitty due for another round of blood tests to see how his diabetes is doing, I’m going to owe that man enough.
Vince~I want to go to a water park! But no, I’m going to the Aquarium. Bet your ass that I’m wading in the Atlantic when I get out, though!
Katey~I dunno. I always thought that dogs’ noses were wet because they licked them all the time. Shows what I know!
Other signs of a URI are very much like a human cold. It can cause the animal to be cranky or more tired than usual. Their eyes may be itchy or watery and sometimes there is a cough and they have a runny nose. The cough is not like a hacking dry cough like what is seen in dogs with kennel cough, it’s more like they are trying to clear the junk out of their throats. The cough doesn’t come from the belly like when they have a hair ball, it’s from the throat.
The key thing is sneezing and the discharge that comes from those sneezes. As long as it’s thin & clear, usually it’s a good sign although it’s not appreciated by humans when they get a loaded sneeze to the face. Oreo did that too me many of times when he was sick. I felt bad for him, but wiping cat snot off my face wasn’t my idea of a good time either. LOL
Anyway… when the discharge becomes thick and turns yellowish-greenish in color, that’s when you know serious trouble is brewing. It’s by that point where cats start going off feed because their sense of smell is altered or they lose it all together. Try to remember how you felt when you had a really nasty head cold? Did you feel like eating much? Probably not because your sense of smell plays a major roll with your appetite and sense of taste. Cats are the same way, or most of them are anyway.
That thick yellow-green discharge is infection, like a sinus infection in people. That needs to be treated by a vet, but you wouldn’t want to wait as cats become dehydrated really fast, especially in this gross, humid weather we’ve been having. URI’s are also highly contagious amongst cats, all the more reason to have it treated ASAP.
I didn’t have to bring Oreo in. The discharge he had stayed clear, there was just alot of it. He would literally wake himself up while napping from all the sneezing he was doing. I did call my vet for advice, but since he wasn’t that bad, she told me to give him asprin, and keep an eye on him. Some cats get worse with URI’s before they get better. Oreo stayed the same for about 4-5 days then started feeling better. You’d know the difference between regular Joe sneezes because he has fuzz up his nose and URI sneezes.
As far as Joe is concerned, just keep tabs on him. As long he’s bright, eating, drinking and active, don’t worry about it. If you’re not comfortable because it’s hot, I wouldn’t encourage him to play too much. As long as you’re comfortable, usually the cats will be fine as well. If he playing on his own, let him play until he gets it out of his system unless he’s bouncing off the walls or something, then it might be time to call for a kitty time out.
When you’re home, add a few icecubes to their water. Another thing you can do is put a damp towel on the bathroom floor or in the tub for them to lay on. It doesn’t need to be dripping wet, just enough to cool them off.
As for whether it’s normal for cats and dogs to have moist noses? Yes it is, but they shouldn’t be drippy or runny. Animals that have allergies often have a runny nose, like people with allergies. Dog and cat noses can also become very dry which doesn’t always indicate illness. Their skin dries out in the winter like ours from the heat being on and their noses just happen to be exposed to the air.
A better way to tell if a cat or dog have a fever without a thermometer is to feel their feet. Animals with pink pads are easy as when there is a fever brewing, their feet turn a deeper color pink or almost reddish. Animals with dark pads do not show a color change, but if there is a alot of heat coming off of their paws and the animal is lethergic or has gone off feed, there is a good chance the animal has a fever.
This shouldn’t be confused with how hot they become after playing unless there are other symptoms. We had gobs of clients call the animal hospital all concerned that their dogs were sick because their pets ears and feet were hot. 99.9% of the time the reason for the hot ears and feet was because the animal was outside playing when it was cold outside. When the dogs came in, they were red from the cold, then as they warmed up, everything went back to looking normal.