This heat wave that we have been having is a killer!
I'm serious! Two people killed by the heat in Fresno, because they were not using their AC unit just fans! In this tempature?
And not only that but farm animals are dying too!
Then my own elderly dog was a victim of the heat as well!
My husband last Sunday let own dog Mitzi outside to go to the bathroom, and didn't let her back in when he laid down with me to take a nap. It was hot 112, and you just don't feel like doing much in heat like that. I asked him when he laid down with me "did you let the dog out?" But I didn't think to ask him "did you let her back in again?"
An hour later I went to the (human people's) bathroom (not to be confused with the doggie one) and I heard a whimper while I was washing my hands. That galvanized me, and I went through the house looking for our dog. I wasn't at all sure if the whimper was our dog or not, but I just wanted to be sure.
Well, she wasn't inside, so I went outside thinking she fell into one of my gardens and couldn't get out, as that has happened before. I checked my little garden--she had fell off the porch into it a few days earlier, and I found her pacing back and forth over the top of my plants in befuddlement.
Nope she wasn't in there again.
I check the next one, and no--not even in the veggie garden either. Could she be on the hot side of the house where we have no trees, where it gets the full brunt of the hot summer sun?
I rounded the corner of the house and I stopped dead!
Oh no!
I saw her laying on her side out in the hot sun.
I ran over to her and checked to she if she was breathing--she was--her little doggy cheeks were puffing in and out like bellows, and her tongue was all the way out. I picked her up and she was limp as a dish rang, and she was really hot to the touch just like the ground that I was standing on.
I took her inside and went through our bedroom on the way to the bathroom. We live in a hundred year old house, and the single bathroom is situated inbetween the bedrooms.
I yelled at my sleeping husband as I went "You left the dog out side--now she is gonna die!" Okay, maybe that was a little overly dramatic, but you have to admit I did have a good cause.
I placed our over heated pooch in the bathtub and turned on the shower. I turned on the cold water but with a little of the hot water, because I didn't want her to go into shock getting too cool too fast. But I did keep adjusting the tempature to be cooler as the time went along.
I had her on her left side facing me with her head toward the upper end of the tub where it is more shallow. I dribbled water into to her mouth and talked to her calling her name, and running my hand down her back and down her legs, as my husband watch anxiously peering over my shoulders.
At one point I had to reposition her because the water started pulling infront of her face. I wanted her to get cooler--not drown. Mitzi came around then and lap up some water before slumping down again. I kept a careful eye on her breathing as it slowed down, and she was aware enough to pull her tongue back into her mouth.
When her breathing became normal I lifted Mitzi out of the tub, and into a towel that my husband had ready. We toweled her dry and I asked my husband to put her in her bed without the towel wrapped around her, as I didn't want her heating up again.
Mitzi slept for a couple of hours then came around and my husband took her outside to go potty, this time staying right with her until she was done. Then taking her back inside, and at my suggestion taking her to her water bowl to drink some more. I wanted to try to get her re-hydrated. She slept a couple more hours and was able to get up on her own, and I took her outside this time to potty, and back inside again to drink more water.
She is still weak, some times her legs don't seem to want to hold her up. But she was doing that anyway because of being so old(eighteen years old), but this is more than is normal for her.
Every day she's a little better, and I am making sure that we don't have a repeat performance of Sunday--that was scary enough!
5 comments:
We've been wetting down the kittens. Not soaking - just enough to cool them off and then pointing them at the water.
Fresno is doing a lot now. I'm sure they're seeking out the poor seniors (no a/c or can't afford to run it enough to help). We're barely surviving with fans and the swamp coolers. It's been bad.
Merced is warning people to be careful. They don't need to tell me twice.
Goodness, I've never experienced heat like that. Take care.
Hi Ann,
That's smart thing to do for the kitties. Our cats are smart enough to know to lay low, and stay out of the sun. And we keep plenty of water out for them to drink. they also lay on my drip lines out in my flower gardens to keep cool too.
There are plenty of heat warnings going out here too.
And Fresno is sending out what they are calling a cooling buses for the areas where there is need--so people can sit and get cooled down.
They also have buildings that they use like the county library; called a cooling building or cooling zone for the same purpose; if you can't affort to use your AC, or don't have one you can come here and stay cool.
Hi Madcap,
Oh Yeah, it's really hot! And you really don't want to experiance heat like this.
Lady Jan~
P.S.
My dog is doing a lot better today.
That's some rescue! Good on you! I think we've peaked out at around 35C these days, but still not something you want to be caught up in!
Hi Turtle Guy,
My dogs all better now, thank gooness.
She was back to her old clutsey self and fell into my small flower garden then got tangled with my fairy/wind chime/garden statue. Then she barked, whimpered, and groweled very vigerously, and my husband(this time) ran to her recue.
The funny thing is when she was back inside she looked like she was laughing about it.
Lady Jan~
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