As keen cat people, we need to be especially mindful that we offer lots of sensible options for our modern day kitties to cope with sudden heat waves that allow them to be regulate their own temperature and seek out what they need to keep them comfortable and prevent pain and suffering from sunburn, dehydration, deterioration of existing conditions in vulnerable cats (ie elderly or those suffering from chronic illness) and ultimately prevent life-threatening heatstroke.
Knowing how to keep your cat cool starts with understanding their natural biology and how this affects how they cope with the heat. So this where I'll start, then it'll be easier to see what you can do to help not hinder them with this. I'll also offer some some top tips to ensure we meet their needs when temperatures climb.
Knowing how to keep your cat cool starts with understanding their natural biology and how this affects how they cope with the heat. So this where I'll start, then it'll be easier to see what you can do to help not hinder them with this. I'll also offer some some top tips to ensure we meet their needs when temperatures climb.
Pet cats are descended from desert dwelling wildcats, so aren’t they naturally able to cope well with the heat?
At the risk of sounding like Vicky Pollard... yes, but no! While it’s completely true that pet cats have evolved from desert dwelling ancestors, our modern cats have some crucial differences that mean they rely on us to help them cope.
Our cats' ancestors have spent millennia living and adapting to their desert climate. They were free-spirits so could pick and choose what they did and when they did it, plus they were unlikely to have been forced to cope with sudden changes in climate. In comparison, we ultimately control our pet cat’s home and most of what they do in it . Plus our cats, like us, live in different climates all round the world, under the influence of global warming and the more extreme and frequent heatwaves we now experience.
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Anatomically, today’s pet cats have also been bred by humans with unusual features that affect their breathing and normal thermoregulation and sun-sensitivity. "Desirable" aesthetics like flattened faces and thicker, longer hair coats or on the other end of the spectrum no protective hair at all, make many cats prone to overheating, sunburn and skin cancer. Pet cats are also relatively overweight so are carrying heavy layers of insulating ‘blubber’. All this means that they find it harder to cope with hotter temperatures compared with their normal-faced, sleek-furred, leaner wildcat relatives.
Physiologically, our pet cats’ kidneys have an amazing ability to concentrate their urine to conserve moisture, a useful function for desert-living when they can obtain the moisture they need from the tissues of their prey. The trouble is that we have pushed cats to their biological limits (and beyond) if we offer them primarily dry food.
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Studies have shown that cats that eat mainly dry food never drink enough water to compensate for the lack of moisture in their meal when compared with the amount of moisture consumed when eating wet food diets - so today's pet cats can end up living in a relative state of dehydration and all the health issues that that brings.
A functional difference between cats and humans is that cats have a higher thermo-neutral zone than humans - this basically means that cats can utilise warmer air temperatures to help keep their inner, core body temperature within normal range without expending their own body energy to do so. If the ambient temperature is any cooler or hotter than their ideal 30 - 38.5C , then cats need to use their precious energy reserves to warm themselves up or cool themselves down - it's why they'll seek out a windowsill or spot on the rug and spend so much time sunbathing trying to keep their temperature up when air temperatures are cooler.
Avoiding overheating is a fine line though, because unlike us, cats can’t sweat through their skin to cool down in the way that we do. Cats only sweat through their paw pads, and rely on evaporative cooling through their saliva by grooming their fur and open-mouthed breathing (panting) to assist if they become very hot. Coupled with their thick fur coats, this means they have a much more limited capacity to cool down once they become too hot. With that in mind, a cat's main coping strategy in the heat is to try and avoid exposing themselves to extreme heat by keeping out of direct sunshine for sustained periods by sticking to shaded areas and cool surfaces (eg damp soil around plants, ceramic tiles, enamel bath/shower tray etc).
Being active at dawn and dusk when it’s cooler and sleeping in the hottest part of the day helps keep cats cooler too and conserves energy and avoids dehydration. Minimising exertion may mean that many cats don't get up as often and drink water and prefer to eat smaller (ideally moist) meals. So we need to be thinking about this with our portion sizes and mealtime menu offerings.
A functional difference between cats and humans is that cats have a higher thermo-neutral zone than humans - this basically means that cats can utilise warmer air temperatures to help keep their inner, core body temperature within normal range without expending their own body energy to do so. If the ambient temperature is any cooler or hotter than their ideal 30 - 38.5C , then cats need to use their precious energy reserves to warm themselves up or cool themselves down - it's why they'll seek out a windowsill or spot on the rug and spend so much time sunbathing trying to keep their temperature up when air temperatures are cooler.
Avoiding overheating is a fine line though, because unlike us, cats can’t sweat through their skin to cool down in the way that we do. Cats only sweat through their paw pads, and rely on evaporative cooling through their saliva by grooming their fur and open-mouthed breathing (panting) to assist if they become very hot. Coupled with their thick fur coats, this means they have a much more limited capacity to cool down once they become too hot. With that in mind, a cat's main coping strategy in the heat is to try and avoid exposing themselves to extreme heat by keeping out of direct sunshine for sustained periods by sticking to shaded areas and cool surfaces (eg damp soil around plants, ceramic tiles, enamel bath/shower tray etc).
Being active at dawn and dusk when it’s cooler and sleeping in the hottest part of the day helps keep cats cooler too and conserves energy and avoids dehydration. Minimising exertion may mean that many cats don't get up as often and drink water and prefer to eat smaller (ideally moist) meals. So we need to be thinking about this with our portion sizes and mealtime menu offerings.
What can I do to help my cat stay cool in the heat?
Think about your individual cat and what unique factors may be affecting their ability to cope with the heat.
Your individual cat’s breed, coat type, face shape, age, body condition, health status will all affect their coping mechanisms. Examples of cats that don’t cope as well as others include:
Your individual cat’s breed, coat type, face shape, age, body condition, health status will all affect their coping mechanisms. Examples of cats that don’t cope as well as others include:
- Flatter-faced cats (Persians, Burmilla, British Shorthair etc)
- Well-insulated cats - fat cats and long or thick-coated breeds (eg Maine Coon, Forest Cats, Domestic long/medium haired cats etc)
- Hairless breeds (eg Sphynx) and cats with white markings or pink ears - are all prone to sun burn and have an increased risk of skin cancer with repeated long term exposure.
- Darker coat colours - dark/black coated cats will get hotter when they lie in full sun as they absorb more heat, so provide plenty of shady spots that bear in mind the direction of sun changes throughout the day.
- Vulnerable cats - elderly cats and cats with heart and circulation problems, thyroid disorders, breathing issues, fever, mobility issues etc will all struggle more with increased air temperatures and be less able to compensate for the subsequent rise in their core body temperature. Keep vulnerable cats indoors and pay particular attention to access to water, cool air flows, sun location throughout the day.
Offer options to allow them to cope in their own way:
Offer your cat choice and control.
Although cats like to doze in the sun for periods of time, a healthy cat will relocate themselves to somewhere cool before they overheat. Always bear in mind, that a room that's lovely and cool in the morning, may get the brunt of the full afternoon sun and become too hot later in the day, so be sure that your cat has options to move about the home to optimise their comfort at all times.
Although cats like to doze in the sun for periods of time, a healthy cat will relocate themselves to somewhere cool before they overheat. Always bear in mind, that a room that's lovely and cool in the morning, may get the brunt of the full afternoon sun and become too hot later in the day, so be sure that your cat has options to move about the home to optimise their comfort at all times.
Keep them well hydrated
Control the temperature in and around your home
Think about ways to cool down your whole house - considering both overall room temperature as well as air flow and sun position during the day.
Take extra special care with doors
Minimise excessive activity
Don't encourage your cat to play or exert themselves during the hottest parts of the day. Save play time sessions for early morning and after sunset and keep them lower intensity and duration. Ultimately be led by your cat's enthusiasm.
Ideas to help with actively cooling your cat
Other factors to consider
Protect your cat from sun damage
Be mindful of their urge to explore and hunt between sunset & sunrise
The cooler nights after sundown on a hot day, make for the perfect conditions for cats to explore and follow their natural hunting urges. This is the most likely time they are going to get into trouble with neighbourhood cats, motor vehicles or other misadventures and also decimate wildlife.
Help reduce all these by making sure
Know what the signs of heatstroke in cats are! It's a medical emergency that you can find out more about here on my Heatstroke Feline 999 page.
- Water - should be refreshed daily and algae-free. Provide it in multiple formats (bowls, fountains etc) and in multiple locations around the home and garden. Add ice cubes to some of the water bowls to keep it cool and provide entertainment
- Offer wet food, restrict dry - In hot weather cats should ideally be eating an all wet food diet, unless your vet has given a valid reason not to.
- Offer extra tasty moisture If you have a stubborn kitty then you could offer them tuna flavoured water or broths to try and get their water intake up and even add water to their wet food
- Be mindful that cats that have been drinking more and lying down more due to the heat may pass fewer, larger volumes of urine so ensure a litter tray is well filled and easily accessible).
Control the temperature in and around your home
Think about ways to cool down your whole house - considering both overall room temperature as well as air flow and sun position during the day.
- Increase natural air flow by opening windows at opposite ends of a room/house. You can buy window restrictors and cat safe screening to avoid accidental falls from curious kitties. Even better if you have fans/air conditioning available.
- Use blinds strategically to keep strong morning or afternoon sun from heating up the home.
- Offer shade within the garden with strategically placed cat-safe plants or even things like a cardboard box with a towel partially over it
- Don't forget to allow your cat to seek out their own cool spots by allowing access to potentially cooler pockets of the house like under the bed, in the bottom of the wardrobe etc
Take extra special care with doors
- Draughts from open windows can cause sudden slamming and injuries to tails and other body parts.
- Always check outbuildings, rooms, cupboards and cars for cats before shutting them up to avoid them becoming inadvertently trapped in a hot, confined space.
- Make sure doors don't accidentally get shut and confine a cat in a room that doesn't allow access to water, food, litter tray etc or an escape from the heat. A shed, greenhouse, conservatory or cupboard can become an oven and fatally overheat cats very easily in hot weather so please educate all little people about this. Door wedges sand-filled doorstops and these over the door kiddy slam preventers are great.
Minimise excessive activity
Don't encourage your cat to play or exert themselves during the hottest parts of the day. Save play time sessions for early morning and after sunset and keep them lower intensity and duration. Ultimately be led by your cat's enthusiasm.
Ideas to help with actively cooling your cat
- Consider grooming and trimming long/thick coated breeds for the summer months.
- Some cats will lie on a damp towel, others won't. It's worth a try but don't force them. You can purchase cooling mats for pets just as you can buy a heat mat in the colder months so this might be worth a try.
- Consider filling an ice water bottle and leaving it for your cat to sprawl over
- If your cat is laid back enough and doesn't mind their vulnerable parts being touched, then you can stroke their armpits and groin areas with a tepid, wet flannel to assist with evaporative cooling just as grooming their fur with saliva would naturally.
Other factors to consider
Protect your cat from sun damage
- Apply special cat-safe sunscreen to outdoor cats with pink ears and noses, and those that like to sun-worship for extended periods.
Be mindful of their urge to explore and hunt between sunset & sunrise
The cooler nights after sundown on a hot day, make for the perfect conditions for cats to explore and follow their natural hunting urges. This is the most likely time they are going to get into trouble with neighbourhood cats, motor vehicles or other misadventures and also decimate wildlife.
Help reduce all these by making sure
- Your cat stays indoors between dusk and dawn.
- Is correctly identified with a microchip and quick-release, break-away collar with a bell and reflective surface to deter successful hunting.
Know what the signs of heatstroke in cats are! It's a medical emergency that you can find out more about here on my Heatstroke Feline 999 page.