With the summer heat with us, it is common to have that air conditioning running while you are at home. But what about when you aren’t at home? Do you keep your pets and their livelihood in mind when you walk out that door? Here are a six tips to implement to help your pet stay cooler in your rental while you are away.
1. Keep Air Moving
For your pets, it's important to keep the room that they are in as cool as possible. Do this by keeping the fans on for constant circulation. You don’t want your pet to be sitting in a room that is not only hot but stuffy as well.
2. Set the Thermostat
You can program your air conditioner to come on at certain points of the day or when it hits a hotter temperature. When pets are inside the house during hot temperatures, they should be a rental that has a thermostat set to
78-80 degrees. You can figure out which point of the days gets the hottest in your rental so you can schedule the thermostat to help keep your pet cool.
3. Block the Sunshine
To help keep the cooler air inside rental properties, keep your windows closed, and keep blinds and curtains drawn so that the air stays inside longer. What is the point of running your air conditioner unit in the day time when you accidently left your window open from the previous night? Make sure that you check all of your windows.
4. Groom Frequently
To keep your pet cooler, groom them frequently. This will allow your pet to be rid of extra fur that will inevitably make them hotter. So grab your pet brush and get to work!
5. Keep Them Hydrated
It can get really hot in Chico and Redding rental properties, so make sure that your pet has access to fresh water. Another thing that is important is that the water is cool, not hot. So try putting a few ice cubes in Fido’s water dish and see if they still drink out of it. Make sure that you pet isn’t freaked out by the ice cubes though! Can you blame them? We normally have to investigate if some foreign object is floating around in our drinks, so don’t be surprised if your pet does the same.
6. Daily Walks
Do not take your pet on a walk or jog when it is really hot outside. Take walks in the morning when the temperature hasn’t risen to its peak or at night time when the temperature is declining. Try to limit exercise when it is too hot.
How Do You Know if Your Pet Has Suffered a Heat Stroke?
There are several signs that you can look out for to indicate if your dog or cat has suffered a heat stroke. The most common signs that you can see would be excessive panting, staggering, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Check your pet’s gums and tongue and see if they are bright red, dry and sticky. If this is the case, take your pet to the vet immediately. While your pet is in the car, take cool towels and put them on your pet’s groin area and under their armpits. Try to put as much air on them as possible.
Remember that we have to be mindful of how we leave our rental properties for our pets that will be staying behind while we are at work, shopping etc. For Chico and Redding rental properties that have complexes that take small pets, check out HignellRentals.com.
For tips on living with pets in your apartment download our Pet Tool Kit!