Although hot summer weather is lovely, some cats suffer in the heat since they have a restricted ability to cool themselves via sweating. As a result, they can quickly overheat.
Since heatstroke may be fatal to cats, you must act promptly. Your goal is to restore your pet’s body temperature to normal – but avoid using ice or freezing water, which may aggravate the situation.
Fans and open windows are other fantastic alternatives for cooling off your home and cat if you don’t have air conditioning. Place fans in front of open windows to circulate air and chill your home. Check to ensure if the revolving blades’ cover is secure on the fans you’re using to make sure they’re safe for your pet to be near.
You can do various things to keep your cat cool this summer and keep them healthy and happy.
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How Can I Cool Down My Cat Without AC?
You should provide good air circulation in the room to cool down your cat.
Dehydration, heatstroke, and shock can all occur if a cat becomes overheated in the summer. Cats, unlike humans, do not sweat, making it difficult for them to stay calm as the temperature rises in the summer.
Surviving out of the sun, being sedentary, drinking water, and panting are common ways cats cool off. None of these solutions is very successful, and a cat trapped in a roasting home or car with no way out would get overheated and susceptible to heatstroke.
If you have air conditioning, keep your cat indoors so he can stay calm as well. Many things you do to keep the house cool for yourself, such as closing the shades, curtains, and doors, can also help your cat.
Ensure your cat has access to a warmer area if she becomes too chilly. (Air conditioning and fans can sometimes make things overly cold, which can irritate a cat after a while.)
Even though your cat enjoys spending time outside, it is best to keep him inside during the warmest portion of the day, between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
One or more fans should be placed at floor level in the corner of the room facing the center. This allows the cat to lie comfortably while getting some air circulation over her hair. This airflow helps your cat cool down similarly to sweating.
1. Hydration Is Necessary
Always have fresh drinking water on hand. To keep hydrated, cats require access to water. Furthermore, as your cat’s blood temperature rises, brain receptors instruct her to consume water to cool down and dilute the blood.
As a result, it’s critical to ensure that your cat has constant access to clean fresh water.
Several large-surface-area drinking bowls should be provided (such as dinner plates or cat bowls). Because cats don’t want their whiskers touching the bowl’s sides, wider bowls encourage them to drink. Ensure the water is replaced at least once a day and kept topped up at all times.
Never allow your cat to consume water with algae since it is harmful and can cause diarrhea, vomiting, seizures, and even death.
Consider purchasing a cat water fountain. Many cats love to drink from a cat drinking fountain, which is an excellent method.
2. Cool Places
Allow your cat to pick a cool area. Cats are well-aware of their surroundings at all times, especially when it’s hot outside. Because porcelain keeps cold even when it’s sweltering outside, cats prefer to snuggle up in the bathtub or sink.
Cats love tiled rooms of the house, such as the bathroom, laundry room, and kitchen, since they are frequently cooler. Allow your cat to find her location if she appears to be at ease.
On hot days, allow your cat to be inactive. Now is not the time to engage in high-intensity cat games. It’s not a good idea to go after a laser pointer or a wing-on-a-string.
Encourage the cat to relax and take it easy instead. Muscle action produces heat, which the cat does not require in the already heated environment.
Ascertain that your cat has access to a source of shade. Take reasonable measures, such as ensuring that the cat has access to shade when outside and is not forced to remain in the sunlight. This might be the shade provided by a tree or bush or the shade provided by a garden umbrella.
If your cat is inside, make sure she isn’t confined to a room with a lot of intense sunlight and that she has a place to relax away from the glare.
Double-check any exterior structures or greenhouses before locking the doors if you have an outside cat. If your cat is confined inside, the building may grow extremely hot, and they may die as a result.
3. Wipe Them
Use wet clothes to soothe your cat. Although most cats dislike being wet, moistened towels can help them chill off a bit. Moisten a cloth with cool water and gently rub your cat from the top of its head to the bottom of its back using the cloth or towel.
If the cat is overheating, gently wipe her down with a damp cloth as often as she will allow. Make a pleasant haven for yourself. Make a fabulous, dark location for your cat to go to when she becomes too hot to help her chill off.
Turn a cardboard box over and store it somewhere quiet and out of the way, such as a closet, behind a chair, or in a cool corner in the house. A terry towel or other soft cotton cloth can line it.
To add to the chilling effect, slip an ice pack inside a sock and set it beneath the towel in the retreat.
Another excellent tip is to cover your cat’s favorite locations with towels or blankets. As a result, an excellent barrier will form between your cat’s fur and warmer surfaces.
Cool, moist washcloths can be used to soothe your cat, as well as water. If your cat looks to be suffering from heatstroke, cover her paws with cold, moist washcloths and give her some water immediately soon. If she cannot sip the water, use a damp towel to moisten her gums with water.
Avoid using ice water or icy water because the temperature differential between the extremes of heat and cold might cause the cat to go into shock.
Also, check out do cats like air conditioning
Are Cats OK Without AC?
Yes, cats are okay without air conditioners.
Cats are warm-blooded animals because they can generate their bodily heat. However, a cat’s capacity to stay warm or cold is influenced by various circumstances.
For one thing, they generate very little body heat due to their efficient muscular motions. Even while cats like sunbathing in sunny locations and hot weather, it can become too much for them to manage. As a result, many pet owners are torn between keeping the air conditioning on for their pets.
Cats, like humans, have developed alongside humans over the last 10,000 years or more and are tolerant of both extremes of temperature. This isn’t to say that temperature does not affect them.
If we’re chilly, they’re likely to be cold as well. If we’re hot, they’re probably hot as well. Cats do not sweat as much as humans do. This means they have a different ability to control body temperature than we do.
Cats only sweat via their paws, so brushing, panting, stretching, and expelling excess body heat through their ears are all excellent ways to cool off.
Leaving a cat in a local place with no access to fresh air can be exceedingly harmful. This is especially true if the area is heated and the cat cannot calm down.
Cars, greenhouses, sheds, tiny rooms, and other similar structures fall under this category. If there is little air movement and many suns, the result will be disastrous in a shockingly short length of time.
A cat can pass out from heat exhaustion in as little as 10 minutes. When you add humidity to the mix, it gets much worse.
Even though cats enjoy being in the sun and being warm in general and have a reputation for being desert animals, allowing them to be hot is not always safe. If cats are left in an unsafely heated setting, they might suffer from heatstroke and perhaps die.
It’s far more straightforward for a cat to warm up when they’re cold than it is to cool down when they’re hot. If the air conditioner is on, a cat can always find a sunny location to warm up or snuggle up with a nice blanket.
When the entire house is hot, it’s much more difficult to find a cold location.
You might also like to read about do cats like fans
Do Cats Need Air Conditioning In The Summer?
No, cats can cool down without air conditioners as well.
For our feline pals, air conditioning can be too much at times. They are most comfortable when we are most comfortable, and we seldom keep our air conditioner on at a shallow temperature.
However, because cats are considerably smaller than humans and their temperature regulation differs from ours, we should bear in mind that they may like something somewhat different than we do.
Cats can usually endure greater temperatures than humans. Because of their propensity to save energy, this makes logical.
Unlike dogs and humans, Cats know how to maintain a low core body temperature. They will be less active in the warm afternoons, reserving their energy for the colder mornings and evenings.
On hot days, owners frequently discover their cats laid out on the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, or garage floor. Cats may sometimes disappear for hours, only to reappearance under the bed or in a closet.
These are excellent fabulous locations for them to take a snooze till the sunsets.
Make sure your cats have access to more excellent areas of the home so they may cool off naturally.
Also, cats will groom to accomplish the same effect that we do when we sweat. When saliva evaporates from their fur, it cools them off, similar to how we would feel chilly after a workout because of our sweat.
Because cats have such excellent heat control, having the air conditioner on, particularly for them may not be necessary. In reality, air conditioning for cats can have negative consequences.
Must Read: 5 Simple Ways to Keep Your Indoor Cat Cool During Summer
Frequently Asked Questions
Are cats OK in a hot apartment?
Cats that don’t go outside are safe from many summer dangers, but only if the temperature inside the house is within a safe range. For your cat, being trapped inside a burning house might be harmful. Cats, like dogs, rely primarily on panting to keep cool.
Will my cats be OK in a hothouse?
Although your cat can tolerate high temperatures, many doctors advise that you leave the air conditioning on when you’re not around. To be safe, set your thermostat to no higher than 78 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit when you’re not at home. You may also set the AC to a lower temperature if you wish to treat your pet.
Can my kitten sleep in AC?
Yes, kittens can sleep comfortably under the air conditioning. Make sure you have a baby blanket or something for it to nest in. They enjoy snuggling, but when they become too hot chasing one other, they will lie down on the tiles or in front of a fan.
Final Words
It’s crucial to keep in mind that our cats are usually at ease when we are. Keeping your living environment at a consistent 65-80 degrees Fahrenheit temperature helps keep your cat pleased.
We can’t ask our cats whether they like the air conditioning on or off, but we can use our common sense and firsthand knowledge of their behavior to figure out what’s best for them. It’s also vital to remember that getting heated is simpler than staying cold.
