Cool for cats

I’ve been giving him cat soup, which he’s eating, but I wondered if anyone had any other tips for keeping a cat cool and hydrated.

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Beautiful! But sorry no suggestions, mine just lie on the tiles in the coolest parts of the house.

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You didn’t feel an immediate impulse to fill his bowl with food?

Must be only on me that his hypnosis works :smile:

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Plenty of access to water, cool areas and shade.

Cats don’t sweat (which at least means one cause of dehydration is eliminated), don’t like immersion in water and can’t pant like dogs so they struggle a lot in hot weather.

One suggestion (not sure how good) is ice cubes as a cat toy, apparently cats can lose heat through their pads (also gain heat if they try to walk on a hot surface).

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I was watching ITV news earlier this afternoon and they had a vet who suggested freezing the water from tinned tuna as ice cubes to give to cats to keep them cool.

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I had a cat who loved being in water, he used to play and lie down in puddles and walk into the shower, sit under running taps etc. Weirdo.

Edited because tablet decided I meant ‘lived’ when I wrote ‘loved’.

Interesting fact: cats do sweat, which I learned from looking it up after realising that my cat’s paws often felt damp (his kindest way of waking me up is to put a paw on my face). Pads, lips, and around the anus all have sweat glands. But probably not enough in this weather: I’ll try the ice cubes. (I did put down an old ceramic tile, glazed side up, for him to lie on. No dice.)

Someone told me cats in Dubai cool themselves via their ears, but I think that’s doubtful.

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Our cat Odin’s favourite foods are tinned tuna and salmon, which he gets occasionally as a treat. We’ve made him some salmon ice cubes. He goes mad over them. First, he licks them, then he tries to chew them, and he eventually eats the lot. The cold doesn’t put him off at all.
Exit: Beaten to it by @Gareth although he’s just freezing the water. We put the whole thing in the cubes.

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You could try freezing steak. I had a cat once that unfortunately acquired a habit of raiding the kitchen. This eventually included eating an entire semi-frozen steak which I had (I thought, safely) put on a very high shelf to thaw.

I realised what the cat had done and that there would be no steak for dinner when the cat turned up for dinner, did not eat its favourite food and then - the giveaway - it burped.

I then looked closely at the cat and could clearly see the shape of the end of a frozen steak sticking out.

So the cat had eaten it semi-frozen. Presumably it had some kind of cooling effect.

Frozen steak is a good idea. He doesn’t like any sort of fish, and not normally meat but he ate the lamb-flavoured soup.

Thanks for all the ideas.

I have five cats left. One had a back leg amputated not long ago, another has bad arthritis in both shoulders, and the other three seem to be OK but getting on in years. What they’ve got in common is finding where to shelter, and I don’t know where, in such heat. Come evening time when it’s getting dark, and first thing in the morning, they turn up fit and well, looking fresh and eager, and there I am worrying about them.

They can come into the house at any time but choose not to, but there’s water and food in the garden at all times.

I believe they find just the right place to keep cool, and not move about, to lie low not using up any energy. They seem to have got it licked, at least mine have.

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I’ve just been told that giving ice to dogs can kill them, it came from advice given by a Scottish vet. I just wondered if giving ice to cats might also cause health problems?

Probably misinformation.

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I’ve just asked my local vet and she tells me it’s advice older vets give. She says a debate has been raging for years but most vets now say it’s ok, as long as the dog isn’t overheated to begin with. She also says for cats it’s fine, so I’ve answered my own question and everyone can happily give their pets ice :blush:. Luckily I spotted her when she popped in to see to a cow in the field next to us.

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Ours is just the same. He comes in around 7am to be fed, looking just fine. He crashes out for 3 to 4 hours, usually on a bed, and then disappears, who knows where. He then comes in around 7 to 9pm to be fed again and then goes straight out all night. We do leave water outside, changed twice a day, but I’ve never seen him drink it, although he does drink water inside. We’ve been feeding him fishy frozen cubes which he loved, but today he seems to have worked out that if he leaves it a while, he can eat it without all the effort of chewing a frozen lump. Bugger.

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That’s cannibalism!

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All cats have their own little tastes. Our older cat used to enjoy his ‘gougoutte’, the last little bit of milk from the box. One of our younger chaps likes it swilled out with water so it’s ninety percent water and ten percent milk (or even less).

And Madame La Princesse de Poubelle contorts herself in order to access the filthy dirty water in a bucket on the veranda (which held some rosemary cuttings while we got the pots ready, but she loves it so much I haven’t dared tip it out).

Clean water will not do.

Though in this weather, I’ve noticed that when I top up the water bowls, there’s usually a cat somewhere around by the time the whole jug has gone in.

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This works well for our cats

Regards

Nick

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My cats, plus two or three that visit, all drink the water I put out.
As children we only ever gave our cats milk :face_with_hand_over_mouth:
The neighbour has just shown me her new kitten, so cute :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: It’s poor mother was killed :cry: