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Heatstroke!!

Another 40 degree day in Melbourne and as the children prepared to jump into the pool, my dad went out to scoop up any leaves that may have fallen into the water from the wind only to find a poor little noisy miner stuck in the middle of the pool trying desperately to swim to the edge. Dad managed to scoop the poor thing up, we wrapped him in a towel and tried to calm him and give him some water – it didn’t look good for the little bird I must say – shock is a big killer of birds and this little miner was only young. We left the little bird in a cool corner and kept a eye on him from time to time. It took a while but gradually he started to move and then finally he took off. You cannot imagine how relieved we all were that the little bird had survived, hopefully he has been reunited with his Family and will go on to have many more adventures.

It is important this time of year to be extra mindful of our pets and to ensure they are not left outside in the scorching heat. We should also remember our native wildlife and leave plenty of cool fresh water around our gardens for them as well.

If you do suspect that your pet is suffering from heatstroke you must act quickly, heatstroke can kill within minutes.

What a beautiful world it would be…..

Image courtesy of Pintrest.

Learn to read the signs of heatstroke

As Melbourne sweats again during yet another heatwave, I thought it would be beneficial to share some insight on signs to look out for of heatstroke in animals. This helpful poster was posted on Facebook by The Save A Dog organisation as a timely reminder to all pet parents.

Don’t Forget The Wildlife

Well the cool change is coming and we are all waiting with bated breath. Melbourne has not had a heat wave like this in over 150 years and everyone is feeling the heat.

However it is not just the people struggling with this heat, our animals and especially our wildlife are really suffering. Within minutes today there were two incidents of native possums in distress.

First a girlfriend sent me a message telling me that her dog had found a mother ringtail possum and her baby up in the apple tree both suffering from heat stroke. My friend tried to cool the animals by carefully using fine mist from the garden hose, she also used the tip I had shared via Facebook from the Save A Dog Organisation which is to use a empty soft drink bottle with a panel cut out of the side as a container for water and suspend it up in the tree using a coat hanger.

Only moments after receiving my friend’s text, the kids and I were getting ready to go back into the pool at mum’s, when we saw this ringtail possum on the fence. Upon seeing us it dropped behind a pot plant and lay there looking really hot and bothered. We put some water out for him but he made no attempt to drink.

The RSPCA suggests picking up the animal and placing it inside a box with some water and putting it inside the house. Leave it alone for a couple of hours and then at nightfall release it back out into the garden.

The best way to handle a wild animal is to place a towel over it and scoop it up with the towel. Not everyone will be able to do this though and that is ok.

The possum at mum’s although hot was not as bad as the mother and baby ringtail at my friends house. To try to capture mum’s possum would have only caused it unnecessary stress, which would have been counterproductive.

By leaving the poor animal alone with fresh cool water and something to eat was the best thing we could have done for him. I believe my friend also made the right choice with her mother and baby.

Thankfully the cool change is just about here and the possum at mum’s house has recovered and is back up in the trees. I hope my friends possum and it’s baby are ok also.

Summer Holidays

The suffocating heat that continues to plague Melbourne has taken its toll. Today the temperature has reached an excessive 44 degrees, and we are all feeling the effects. No energy to do anything but swim in the pool and then relax and surf the blogosphere. Not a bad life really. Loving the summer holidays.

Warning – Extreme Heat Can Kill Dogs

Despite the repeated warnings it seems that some people fail to understand the dangers associated with exposing dogs to extreme heat, whether that may be from leaving them inside park cars or by stupidly taking them out for walks in 40+ degree heat on searing hot pavements.

Yesterday there was an incident at work whereby a lady left her little dog inside the car. All the customers reported to reception alerting the girls, my supervisor then made an announcement over the loud speaker. One person had seen the lady go across the road to the funeral parlour. So the girls called the funeral parlour and the lady came and rescued her little dog that believe it or not was also wearing a coat. Lucky I wasn’t there I would have probably called the RSPCA or the police or both.

Today the weather is even warmer and yet I have seen several people walk past with their dogs in toe. I felt like running out and yelling “what are you doing?” I wish images like the ones above and below were up on every billboard, splashed across every tv screen, maybe then people would start taking notice. But you know somehow I don’t think even that will help. That feeling of invincibility that most of us have (it won’t happen to me), seems to apply to our dogs as well I think.