A little heat and some exposure to sunlight are beneficial to animals, but to some extent. All animals know how to regulate their exposure to the sun or heat very well. If exposed for a long time to high temperatures with a high level of humidity , however, cats and dogs can also be affected by suffering from heat stroke .
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What is sunstroke or heat in dogs

Heatstroke is a sharp rise in a dog’s or cat’s body temperature . It can happen if the animal has been left in the car or in the sun even for a short time, when the sun beats down.

Dogs and cats are homeothermic animals , that is, they have a stable body temperature at 38 ° – 39 ° which, within certain limits, is independent of the environmental temperature.

Therefore, if the animal is in a cold environment, it will thermoregulate in order to produce more heat; vice versa, if the external environment is hot, the thermoregulation will be directed towards the dissipation of excess heat.

Thermoregulation usually occurs through breathing and the action of the nasal cavities, which represent a real refrigeration system; in case of great external heat, breathing through the nose will be strengthened by that with open mouth.

The thermo-normalizing mechanisms, however, can jam, when the external temperature is too high, and therefore indisputable. In this case the animal is unable to dissipate the excess heat and undergoes a serious, sometimes fatal, clinical condition known as “heat stroke”.

Symptoms of sunstroke or heat in dogs

It presents with various symptoms of varying degrees based on the time of exposure to excessive heat:

• initial agitation with breathlessness and depression,
• increased respiratory and heart rate,
• hyperthermia (i.e. high fever, with peaks between 41 and 44 ° C, while it should be between 38 ° and 39 ° C),
• congestion of the mucous membranes (intense red color, up to cyanotic blue).

It can also come to delineate an altered mental state (“stuporous”) up to the occurrence of convulsive crises; in the most serious cases of “sunstroke”, which occurs following prolonged exposure of the animal’s head to direct sunlight, the onset of cerebral edema, coma and death can be determined. 

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Sunstroke in dogs: natural cures and remedies

One should immediately try to reduce hyperthermia, by dabbing the coat with cold , not ice-cold water, even using wet cloths (to be changed as soon as they warm up); it is possible to make the animal drink water, as long as it is at room temperature and offered in small doses.

The purpose of this first intervention is to prevent the symptoms from evolving. The very cold bath is to be avoided , because the body would undergo a sudden peripheral vasoconstriction, which would make it even more difficult to restore thermoregulation.

During the first aid intervention, the temperature will be measured every 5-10 minutes and procedures can be suspended only when it reaches 39 ° C.

It is good to take the dog to visit the vet as soon as possible , since animals that have suffered from mild heat stroke can recover completely, while in the most important cases they can suffer serious consequences, due not only to direct thermal impact, but also to secondary circulatory alterations. In cases in which a comatose state has been reached, mortality is on average equal to 70%.