THIRSTY THURSDAY

"When you're hot, you're hot."

I have no idea who dreamed up that line, but it certainly makes a lot of sense, in several ways.

Huge chunks of North America have been suffering through temperatures in the 90s (F) or above. (That's 30+ for those of us who count temperature in degrees Celsius.) Even up here on the Canadian Prairies (north of the Plains States) I've seen video of people cooking eggs on sidewalks and on the dashboards of cars in the last few days. I kid you not. 

One of the managers of our SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) was on tv, and surprised me. We might think it's OK to leave the family pup in the car for a bit, while we go sun and surf. Park in the shade if you can, leave some water, roll down the windows. Apparently not. There is no safe period of time that you can leave your pet in a car, unattended, on a hot day, said the bright young woman. Our dogs feel the heat as much as we do. I assume that would be the same for cats. (Yes, this is one time I worry even about cats. Dogs have owners; cats have staff — you can tell the difference in attitude pretty quickly.)

I was talking to an SPCA's Board member a few days later, and told her how good her employee was. And I got some additional info about hot weather care, because people underestimated how sick their animals could get, and how quickly.

So, what to do as the heat wave continues?
1. Head for the local swimming pool.
2. Get into an air-conditioned building — library, mall, whatever.
3. Drink lots of water, especially if you're working outside. Your body is going to put out a lot of liquid trying to keep you cool, so you need to keep filling up the internal water reservoir.
4. Crawl under a rock, and don't come out until September.
5. Keep your pet in the shade, out of the car, with lots to drink.

I'm serious about this! You people are so sweet, you'd probably melt in about ten minutes. I'd hate to lose any of you. My blog depends on you!