How to keep pets cool, safe during the heat of summer

As you make your sticky way through this week's record heat, consider the ground squirrels of the Kalahari Desert.

University of Washington biologist Ray Huey and his colleagues spent a parched season studying the creatures and discovered the ingenious trick that allows them to forage every day — despite a landscape devoid of shade.

When the sun gets fierce, the tails go up.

Voilà: Portable parasols.

The heat-addled scientists were impressed.

"We said: 'Hey. Why aren't we using umbrellas?' " Huey said.

When it comes to handling heat, humans can learn a lot from the lower orders.

Animals employ a wide variety of strategies to keep from overheating. Some are built-in, like the radiator organ that cools the brain of a galloping racehorse. But many are rooted in a kind of common sense that transcends species.

"Isn't the saying: Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun?" Huey asked.

Dogs, cats and other companion animals are also biologically equipped to deal with heat. But they run into problems when people put them in impossible situations: chained in a yard with no shade; left in a car; urged to run on a 90-degree day.

When temperatures soared above the century mark last summer, dozens of dogs with heat stroke were rushed to area veterinary clinics. Quick cooling and intravenous fluids saved most of those treated at Animal Critical Care & Emergency Services, said co-owner Dr. Beth Davidow.

But at least one cat didn't make it, after being left alone in a sunny apartment.

On Wednesday a Seattle Animal Shelter officer rescued a dog from a sweltering car parked near Alki Beach.

"It's an extremely serious problem for us each summer, and more so this week," said shelter director Don Jordan.

Contrary to popular belief, dogs and cats do possess sweat glands — but only on the pads of their paws. Like people, dogs and cats shunt warm blood to their skin, which leads to cooling as long as the air temperature isn't too high. But panting is their main method for dissipating heat.

Accompanied by salivation, it's an efficient approach that cools by evaporation.

Panting dogs take up to 200 shallow breaths a minute. A design that allows them to breathe in through the nose at the same time also cools the blood that flows to the brain, Huey said.

"If your brain gets hot, you're in real trouble."

Dog breeds with squashed-in faces, like pugs and boxers, are particularly vulnerable to heat stroke because their small nasal passages and weird windpipes make it hard for them to pant.

All dogs and cats can become dehydrated from excessive panting, which is why constant access to water is crucial in hot weather, said Leslie Pansing.

Pansing is in her final year of vet school at Washington State University. She researched heat stroke for her senior thesis.

"I hadn't realized just how bad those heat-related illnesses could be," she said. "It can really affect every organ in the body."

About half of dogs and cats hospitalized with heat stroke will die or be euthanized due to organ failure. Dogs are more likely to be stricken, because they're more likely to be playing in the heat while cats curl up on a cool, tile floor.

"If we ran around in the heat like we let our dogs run around, we'd all collapse," said WSU veterinarian Dr. Raelynn Farnsworth.

The best things owners can do for an overheated pet is cool it with a fan or douse it with water, and get to a vet, she said.

Animals in the wild are less likely to suffer heat stroke than their domesticated cousins, because they're free to seek out shade, take refuge in a burrow or indulge in a refreshing mud bath

Some lizards change color, starting the day with a dark, heat-absorbing hue and lightening up as the sun climbs. Horses and cattle sweat, like humans. Some mice and other small rodents slather themselves with saliva.

An industrious type of South American tree frog secretes a waxy coating that it spreads over its body. The wax keeps the frogs from drying out in the hot sun.

Fur can be a mixed blessing. For dogs and cats, it can initially insulate against the heat. But fur can also make it harder to shed excess heat through the skin, so vets advise shaving pets in some cases.

Curious why camels evolved such a thick coat, a Norwegian physiologist attempted to shave one of the uncooperative beasts, Huey said. After breaking several pairs of shears, he bared enough skin to prove camels sweat and that their fur actually insulates them from the heat and conserves water.

Birds can pant, though they usually avoid overheating by sticking to the shade — when possible.

While working in the desert near Palm Springs, one of Huey's colleagues took refuge from the midday sun under the only tree for miles. Not a lizard was stirring.

Suddenly, a roadrunner pulled up next to him.

"The roadrunner looked at him as if to say, 'Go ahead and eat me if you want, but I'm not going back out in the sun,' " Huey said. "The two of them sat there for a couple of hours."

Sandi Doughton: 206-464-2491 or sdoughton@seattletimes.com