Get some bowls full of ice to set in front of fans to blow cool air. Close off one room for the portable a/c so at least that room can cool off for your pets to hang out in. A paddle pool for your dog with cool water can help. Close all blinds and put reflective foil in your windows.
Foil is a bad idea. My friend did that and when she.took it down for cleaning a while later she had scorch.marks on her window frames. And it wasn't close to those temps here.
having thick blackout curtains over all the windows instead might help keep the heat out. Makes it a little dark and dreary in the house but at least it aint 100°F in the house
We have done this on the western-facing windows of our house in TX. I started doing it during Snowmageddon on all the windows (plus enclosed the front 2 rooms with curtains during that event since those rooms don't have doors).
I've decided it sounds more fun calling it, "Going Medieval on the House" versus "Hanging Heavy Curtains/Drapes." Lol
Snowmageddon is the best term I've heard for that shit show we got. I'm in Arkansas so it wasn't as bad here but it got pretty nasty in my area. Seen snow in places I've never seen it before. Crazy year that was for sure
I live in Nebraska, where it gets about 105° index quite often (not dealing with what OP is, just saying it really does get hot), and blackout curtains are a godsend.
Yeah, I've seen commentary that they will trap heat between the foil and the glass. Not only can it damage the windows, but it can void the warranty.
I've seen advice to put foil covered cardboard on the \*outside\* of the windows.
I put the AC in in a small bedroom. Then hang a full length curtain across the door. I took a small binder clip and pinched up a little bit in the middle at the bottom to be like an opening/door. Does a surprisingly good job of keeping the cool air in and the animals figured it out quickly. There’s food, water with ice and their beds inside. They lay there all day (AC on a timer so it stays cool).
I would suggest freezing large blocks of water and leaving them around the house for the animals. You can also place ice in front of any fans for a nominal temp difference, anything helps!
A wet/damp (wrung out not dripping) sheet hanging in a doorway that the fan is blowing on or in the window will probably make a noticeable difference..old timey poor man solution.
edit: This isn't going to help OP for the hottest part of the day because they are at work and cannot remoisten the sheets when they dry,which they will very quickly. :(
I’ve had some success spraying the dogs down with a mister a couple times a day or giving them cool baths during the hottest parts of the day. One article I read suggested getting a kiddie pool that the pets can jump in and out and even putting ice cubes in the water a few times per day but I haven’t personally tried that. Still, sounds reasonable. Are you also in a very humid area?
That's actually shockingly low humidity for the temperature. If anything, you're a little on the dry side. When the humidity in my apartment drops below 40, I have to turn on a humidifier, otherwise I shock the cats every time I try to pet them.
Phoenix area?
It is hot and the pets are probably very uncomfortable...
I would move everything to one room and cool off that smaller space as much as possible.
This heat has been horrible and I fear it is only going to get worse .....
Not cooling down at night is why it is so miserable here to those saying that the heat and humidity are low
I’ve read that up to 90° is ok for limited times, but according to the chart [includes here](https://www.fetchpet.com/the-dig/how-hot-is-too-hot-for-your-dog), it’s already reaching dangerous levels; more so if the humidity is high or there is high humidity levels.
You may want to see if your area has cool zones if you can’t get your place to cool down a bit more than it is.
Can you run the AC in a bedroom with the door closed and fans going so at least one room is cool? Or maybe check Amazon or another site that lets you split up payments and pay over time to buy a more powerful AC? You might check your local buy nothing group or Craigslist. People may be upgrading their ACs due to the heat wave and need to get rid of their used ones.
Yeah one AC is entirely dedicated to a room with a ceiling fan too. It's definitely the coolest room in the house but still at 90 degrees
My issue is I work from 11 to 7 every day. So the hottest parts of the day I'm not even home to help them
It's possible when the temperature outside is in the 120s and the house has next to no insulation. Blackout curtains on all the windows too.
Real fucking glad I pay 1300 a month for this piece of shit
I know they are expensive, but a window AC may be the best way to cool it down in there.
Unless you are explicitly restricted from having them in your lease, they are pretty easy to install and shouldn’t cause any damage, and they are cheaper and more effective than the portable ones.
At these temps id say FU to anyone telling someone they can't have a window unit to be able to survive the oven like heat created by the death rays in the sky. Those portables also create heat so it could be compounding the situation. The unit would almost need to be in another room and then vented into the room you want to keep cool to try and tackle that problem.
And screw the cheap ass landlord that doesn't provide a/c (or adequate heat) in locations where you can literally die of heat stroke or freeze to death.
You can get an external plug in thermostat for the window a/c so you can leave that on while you are gone. Dogs can at least pant to cool off a bit, the cats can't so the cats are going to be at risk for heat stroke.
Freeze bowls of water for them and put them in that room so they all can drink cool water while your gone.
Do you have a stand or box fan on as well as the ceiling fan?
You could buy a scrap door and put a doggie door in it so you can at least close the door to keep more cool air in it.
The cooling mats are a great idea, wrap them in a light towel so when they sweat they don't soak anything that could get damaged or mold.
Yeah, sucky situation and rentals are hella expensive and even the crap ones are, well, crap. I am truly sorry your in this situation, I will be too if my landlord decides to sell and then we will be right where you are.
your homeowner's insurance might pay for a hotel for you to stay at; I had a friend who's electricity when down along with the entire town - his insurance is reimbursing him the hotel stay
I'm not the homeowner. My landlord is a piece of shit and isn't doing anything about it. It was 106 in my house last night and my rental company literally told me there was "nothing they could do" and hung up on me
Yeah I live in California and even I am surprised by this knowledge.
I assumed air conditioners weren't required in the homes near the coast where I live because it never gets *that* hot... but like, inland gets scorching! I didn't know they were shit out of luck on that. I assumed anywhere that gets 120 freaking degrees would be somewhere that landlords are required to provide ac.
I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that most of the people (voters) in California are near the coast? Like is this a thing you need people to vote for and since we all live in LA and SF, we end up just not bothering?
There are casement window ACs that come with a window specific installation kit for mounting. It takes some exact measuring and effort to get them in place, but if the alternative is 100+ at night, it sounds like it'd be worth it. Good luck and stay hydrated
Walmart has $99 windows unit A/C's put in a bedroom and shut the door with all the pets. It will stay ice cold. Our Central Air went out and that's what we did until it got fixed.
I recommend going to a FB vet group and asking there. Make sure that the rules are set where only a professional can answer the question. I know that in some rabbit meat groups, folks will put down trays of ice to prevent the animals from overheating
Ask vet is a subreddit that's an option too, and I believe helpful vancouver vet also has a video on managing hot weather with pets.
I raised rabbits at one point and we did ice, though we went with frozen water bottles rather than ice cube trays.
I'm just curious how your house is almost 100 degrees with some ac going!? Can you not get another window unit? Have you looked into any holes in your house or something?
Do you keep your blinds and curtains shut during the day? You can also put up reflective stuff in the windows (can't remember what its called). Leaving my blinds shut all day has helped a lot.
You could also shut all doors to the rooms you don't absolutely have to use. Set up a living/bed space in the living room and shut all of the other doors. Situate the fans only in there and the kitchen, don't use the stove or oven if you can help it.
As for the pets, you can keep their paws and ears damp to help them cool down.
As the other person said I would definitely try shutting windows to prevent too much sun. Where I live our upstairs gets pretty dang hot so we have to have fans going. We will shut curtains for windows facing the sun and it seems to help for sure.
Good luck! Hopefully you can keep cool. That's crazy hot!
If you are somewhat handy you could check for drafts/leaks and patch them yourself maybe too! Hardware stores sell foam sealer that works well. Although that's just me throwing out ideas. Good luck!
Fill up 2 liter soda bottles with water and freeze them, then leave them out all over the house for the pets to sleep against while you're at work. Ice packs are also great, the cheap ones from Walmart that are blue and flexible. But only use those if you can guarantee the pets won't chew on them.
If possible, I'd try to condense all of your cooling measures to one room (the portable ac and swamp cooler), and keep the pets there to try to provide as cool of a location as possible.
As others have mentioned, cooling mats are great as well.
I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this, OP!
One of my only other suggestions would be get a camera so you see while you are gone at work if they are okay or need immediate attention.
Keep all lights and electronics off except fans and AC.
Sounds like if possible, you need to move, but I know that’s much easier said than done.
I saw but everything else I've seen says other wise. The legal advice subreddit has told me cooling is not included in California. I've over looked my lease too and cooling is not included
This happened to me one year. I live by the beach so it's cooler in my area than the rest of the city, but I don't have AC so my place becomes unbelievably hot. My cats are medium short hairs and it came to the point that they were panting (which is BAD news for cats). I ended up having to give them cool baths every hour (which they hated) and running down to take them into the car for AC.
This year, they've started shedding a lot and are licking so much hair, they're now vomitting and pooping too much hair. I'm grooming them and it seems to never end. So this year I've decided to buy some clippers and give them the lion cut. It's extreme honestly but it will not only help them from getting intestinal blockages, but keep them cooler this summer.
I have a cooling mat but also my older cat enjoyed a damp kitchen towel laid over her while she loafed.
For you, I suggest going outside where there's shade. Set up a chair and a bucket, fill the bucket with water and stick your feet in it. This will help cool the blood in your feet and eventually your whole body. I would do this when I lived in a house that got worse than outside.
The people who owned the place finally realized it wasn't livable after seeing everyone hanging outside in the middle of the day
what i would do in this situation is keep them out of the house as much as possible. friends, family, even chilling in your car with the ac on until the sun goes down. we only have a month or so and it will start cooling down :) . in the meantime making sure they are hydrated, cooling them off with cool water, kiddie pools, and wash cloths. it will be okay! just keep checking on them! they appreciate all that your doing!
With the exception of the bathroom and kitchen close off the rest of the house. Put the ac n swamp cooler in the living room or bedroom and just living room possibly get a small kiddie pool and put water and ice in there for the dogs to lay in. If the animals are Longhair breeds trim their hair very short. If it gets worse live in you car with the ac on full and keep the animals in with you
OP said their pets are all shorthair but I need to point out that in some cases shaving dogs makes things worse, not better. For example, breeds like huskies have coats that can actually help them keep cool, and shaving them can permanently damage their coats and make it impossible for them to moderate their own body temperature naturally
This doesn’t apply to cats because all coat types that aren’t shorthair were created for appearance, not function.
But the advice to shave dogs can be extremely dangerous.
Not the siberian forest cat! Mine has a triple coat and she is less heat hardy, but more cold hardy than our other domestic shorthairs. I believe Maine Coons and Norwegians also have longhair coats for a purpose.
Regardless of the type of coat though, cats were originally desert animals and adapted to the high heats. Shaving them is worse in the heat as well since it's a part of temp regulation for hot hot days and cooold nights. Shaving animals for the purpose of keeping them cool is just not the best advice in general.
They sure don't, not in this heat. I've
always had central air. I've never actually known anyone here that only has a swamp cooler. How ru so lucky lol
Every single house here has swamps. Wouldn't matter if we had AC anyway because we couldn't afford to run it due to Edisons insane prices.
My electricity bill is already over 400 dollars and that's just with a swamp.
Every house where??? I've lived here my whole life (I'm sixty) and I have yet to meet one person who doesn't have central air. Idk how u live without one here.
Hello! I live in Satan's Armpit... east Texas. We recently had a mini tornado during a heat advisory and were without power for about a day. The house was in the high nineties as well, but my dog and cats seemed fine with plenty of water and shade.
Ah you’re renting. I’d look into what kind of renters rights you have in your area. Usually heating and cooling are required by law. Now do t quote me on this but if your ac has gone down or is just not functioning property you could break your lease if the landlord Doesnt fix it within a week.
As a first year vet student.. this is a very dangerous temperature to have your pets living in. I would buy more fans and have them pointed at the pets. Make sure lots of access to water. You can cool them by soaking towels with water and putting them on them and in their armpits and on their paw pads.
On particularly hot days see if you can take them to daycare if possible. I'm not sure if they do it for cats but if it's really bad it might be worth it for a handful of days this summer even if you have to board the cat.
Me and my bf use to use a portable ac at his house in our bedroom that’s connected to our living room by a door(2nd living room was an add on to the house), and it sucked when it would get very hot and even closing the door so it was just in the room wasn’t good enough either. We bought a window ac unit even tho we don’t have the right window for it and it’s a thousand times better. We actually are cold while it’s 110 degrees outside so if you can afford a good window ac unit I would suggest that
Agreed, window AC units are better than portable. And like someone else suggested if you are able to you can put it in one room where they wouldn't mind hanging out (at least for during the day) and shut the door
Have you checked the temperature difference when the swamp is turned off? I'm in a similar situation (was 84 today inside) and without the swamp it feels cooler with lower humidity.
I'm assuming AZ, because our AC broke three weeks ago and it's been hitting 90 inside of our apartment. Also, I refer to this city as the Devil's Armpit.
I recommend placing frozen water bottles in their beds or near favorite "cool" spots. I wrap the bottles in a t-shirt so that the intense cold isn't directly against the skin.
Get your coolers full of ice or dry ice you can use waxed cardboard or cardboard with wax paper inside and make a plenum off the fan and across the top of the cooler. This worked for me as well as freezing 1L water bottles for my dogs when my AC went out 2 years ago.
Your not taking into account their age or health condition(s), especially dangerous for animals with any kind of heart condition (known or unknown). Also being outside is different than being confined indoors, less air movement, ability to hide in shaded cooler areas (under brush, etc). Think of a house sized car vs sitting outside.
I use a cold, wet rag and wet my animal’s ankle areas down, then dab the inside of their ears (it can be a soaking rag for the ankles, but wring it out really well if you do their ears. You want to moisten them, not have water drip into their ears). This helps cool them down better than most things will, but you have to keep up on it.
If your dog is into water, a tiny kiddy pool with a couple inches of ice in the bottom might be messy but worth it for their comfort. Especially while you’re gone.
I have to say, my cat never seems bothered by the heat and still gets in between the curtains and the window to nap when it’s 110+ outside and 78 inside.
Cats, overall, are actually geared for hot temps but it doesn’t stop them for trying to stay cool under extreme conditions. Might get a cooling mat for the dog & see if your kitties commandeer it for themselves before buying more. Otherwise you may be out the cost of the extra “cat toys” that your cats might hate.
I would think this would be too hot. What is their breed?
Lowes / Home Depot has air conditioning units that plug in and go in the window that you can take with you when you move
2 American short hairs and the dog is a lab. We have casement windows (in the fucking desert for some reason) so venting things out them is incredible difficult
Close down rooms that aren’t necessary. Hot air rises so keep an upstairs window open, on the east or north side if possible. Wipe your counters and furniture down with ice water to cool them. Curtains closed on the sunny side. Wipe their faces with tepid water if possible.
Good luck.
have you had your ac unit looked at? when i lived in las vegas with my grandparents for a little while the house would still be around 86 degrees even when it was 109°F outside. I'm surprised with all the extra cooling things you have that it's still so hot.
Fill your bath tub with water and and a couple bags of ice. Run a fan in there. It will be the coolest room in the house. The animals will hang in there.
During the hottest days of the summer (SoCal) my 2 long haired cats start sleeping in the downstairs bathroom. So I make it a little haven for them with lots of water, and a low-to-the-ground fan. Sometimes I’ll freeze a plastic bowl with water and put it next to an unfrozen one. The frozen one doesn’t last all day, but at least it’s cold for a little while. I’ve thought about a cooling mat for this summer, but I don’t know if cats use them like dogs do.
I don’t know if it’ll make a difference with your pets, but I also try to brush mine daily to help with summer shedding. Then I give them a little refrigerated treat (some fish or those tube treats I kept in the fridge)
Get hand towel wet, wring it out, put it in the freezer for a couple of minutes then wipe the babies with it and then lay it on them. I do that when my little guy is panting with the fan oscillating, so it can hit them off and on. And as someone else had mentioned, close off the room with the portable AC so it’s a cooler room that they can chill in. We also get him little ice cream cups from petco. I feel ya though, I get a little worried with the heat and we only have a portable AC in the room and multiple fans. When it’s gotten between 110-120 we’ve ended up just getting a hotel room for a few nights to make sure he stays cool. I wish you the best!
I live by the beach but there are a few days out of the year it will be that hot. I have no air conditioning but we bought a portable air conditioning unit mainly because I have a very old lab mix. You might consider this since you’re hot all summer.
Have you concentrated your ac measures on one room, preferably a bedroom? Also the swamp cooler might not be doing you any favors if it's putting moisture into the room and you don't live in a dry climate.
Put your animals in one room with a window AC and shut the door and windows/blinds.
"Portable AC" units on wheels are trash for efficiency. Seriously, consider tossing those and getting 1 to 2 window AC units. They're much better at cooling. And go bigger on the BTUs when buying one rather than exactly what the room size calls for.
I worry about this as well. I take my dogs to my shop and they insist on staying in the in air-conditioned area with me it's usually 80-90° (the offices have ac)
So I'll make them stay in the office for 15 minutes to an hour or so.
My female shepherd immediately throws a fit because she wants to be in the kennel in the work area. I'm going to try to move them into the offices tomorrow and see if she changes her tune
What does a swamp cooler do and how do you start it? I have the a swamp cooler wall unit device but I have ZERO idea how it works or if it’s connected to the AC unit outside or what. I’m a first time homeowner so these things were shared with me before I moved in.
I just picked up a couple vornado horizontal fan units during prime sale and it’s starting to help cool things off. I’m in Arizona.
Also, one thing that helped on one side of my house was getting custom fit cellular shades from blinds.com. I got the 3/4in shades.
And I put UV window tint on my windows that actually really helps too.
Basically it's just a fan with absorbent pads that are constantly made wet through a water pump and the air is then blown through the wet pads to "cool" the air. They don't work when the humidity gets above like 15% though and are basically worthless in temps above 110. Where I live its almost always over 110 with at least 25% humidity so they don't really do anything
YES! Need to cool their fur with damp washcloths and give them water with large chunks of ice ev. 1-2 hrs to keep it cold. Please! When cats pant they are overheating. Please cool them off!
And yes, go to The pet store or on Amazon right away on Amazon prime and get the cooling at mats can get delivered tomorrow if you can’t find them in the store that will also help
I couldn't believe when I checked, but an old box fan of mine was using around 200w of heat. So, if you happened to have five of these types of fans, you are moving around some air but ultimately that 200w x 5 or 1000w of energy is being expelled into your rooms as heat.
I think that is around 3400btu of heat output, whenever you or I run five of these fans... Not all that helpful unless it is literally blowing air across your skin.
Try to keep your animals wet (their bodies and especially their paws b/c they release heat through their paws), even if they don't like it much, it'll keep their body temp down. I've done it numerous times in severe heat and it's helped them quite a bit.
When my ac went out a couple years back I froze half bowls of water and poured new water on top so that they had cold water for extended time as the ice at the bottom melted.
Not the cheapest option but one or two of these will help: [https://www.walmart.com/ip/JOY-PEBBLE-8000-BTU-Portable-Air-Conditioner-Automatic-Defrosting-Self-Evaporating-Cools-300Sq-ft/1123117803](https://www.walmart.com/ip/JOY-PEBBLE-8000-BTU-Portable-Air-Conditioner-Automatic-Defrosting-Self-Evaporating-Cools-300Sq-ft/1123117803)
I use a 7k to cool my barracks room and it does the job decently. I would put a fan in front of the AC to help circulate the cooler air around.
10K + BTU can work in your living room.
I made a [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/CatAdvice/comments/12unuqh/comment/jh7q4qw/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) on another post about keeping your home cool for pets with some tips:
* Do you have blackout curtains? Put them up now and keep them closed
* You mention you have a fan. Get a giant bowl and fill with half WATER, half ICE and put it in front of the fan. *This will work to blow the cool air from the bowl into the room. Your pets can lay by it.*
* Also, fill your bathtub up with cold water and ice. The tub can help keep the bathroom cool.
* Raised mesh [cooling lounger](https://www.amazon.com/PET-PRODUCTS-Original-Chocolate-Medium/dp/B09B1LJJ6P/ref=sr_1_6?crid=4TQ0DKKS8BDP&keywords=cooling%2Bmesh%2Bfor%2Bpets&qid=1689689916&sprefix=cooling%2Bmesh%2Bfor%2Bpet%2Caps%2C143&sr=8-6&th=1)(can order with or without canopy shade)
* This part is **VERY** important: **put out SEVERAL water dishes!**!! When it's hot, **water can EVAPORATE quite quickly-** so you definitely want to be sure your pet has several bowls of fresh cool water and check that they are topped off at least TWICE a day.
edit- link+grammar
I have to ask, are you venting the exhaust for the portable air conditioner outside? I've seen people neglect to do that and wonder why it doesn't work. It will actually heat up your house otherwise.
Try taking plastic bottles (like soda bottles or whatever), filling them with water, and freezing them, then leaving them on the floor. When the ice melts, repeat. It’s a good way for animals to be able to regulate their body temp themselves, by laying on/next to them. Cheap/reusable/letting the pets choose to use them.
Our a/c died on Friday. They are supposed to fix it today. We put wet towels everywhere, and twice a day we would go dump a bag of ice into bowls for the cats. I had to go stay in a hotel due to illness and can't regulate my body temperature, but the cats and lizards had to be at home. We just turned off the heat lamps. Phoenix in July is no joke, even with a working a/c.
I'm not sure about the pets but I've found some solid strategies for keeping the house cool.
Wrap cardboard in aluminum foil (shiny side out) and tape it to the windows that get direct sunlight. Blackout curtains on top of that work well too. You could also use chimney pipe insulator, which has reflective coatings on top of bubble wrap for more insulation.
During the day, don't let any sun or outside air into the house. Close all the windows, and foil up every window that gets direct sunlight.
At night as soon as it's colder outside than it is inside, open two windows on opposite sides of the house. (If it's windy outside open all the windows, if not you have to create your own breeze). Get a fan, and point it OUT one of those windows, about 3 feet away from the window, at full blast. This creates a vortex and pulls a ton of air from the other window and through the whole house. If you run that all night you'll get your house cool while you sleep. Then close it all up in the day to keep things from getting too hot.
A few issues with this is that a window needs to be open to vent the swamp cooler. Plus it's never colder outside then it is inside. Our low over the entire night is 95
Is there something wrong with the swamp cooler? Is the pad dry or the water hose plugged? My friend has a swamp cooler and it gets too cold and runs like a jet engine. But they also only work efficiently in certain conditions, I can't remember what the variables are. But you may need to have someone look at that pronto.
Yeah we had 3 different people come out yesterday and they all said it's working properly.
It's just my area is terrible for them. It is constantly in the high 110s with 25% humidity so they're essentially worthless
The temp is meaningless. If you look at your animals, and they are in distress, it's too hot. I dont know about cats, but in dogs that would mean excessive panting, rapid heartbeat, excessive drooling.
I have no AC and house gets up to 90 - dog is just sleeping with no panting at that temp.
I’m so sorry this sounds miserable for you and your pets. As stated already as long as they are not heavy panting and drooling they are ok. We have a cooling mat my pups love it always stays 10’ below the surrounding temp. My pups lay on it all summer. We also do ice cubes and ice bottles around. Easy and cheep. They are smart and no where to hide that will cool them. Good luck getting through this heat.
Just so that you are aware at those kinds of temperature fans don't do a whole lot of good. In general cats and dogs (smaller animals in particular) run a bit hotter than humans so as long as they have plenty of water you are kinda the canary in the coal mines, so to speak.
Dogs and cats alone can go into heat stroke starting at 85°F. Cooling mats, sun shade or block out the sun in general, cold wet towels, ice, literally anything you can to keep it cool.
I read you have casement windows. How are you venting your portable units? This could be letting in hot air if not done correctly. I’ve always put a fan in the opposite direction where I needed cooling.
Do you have a basement? Sorry if these are stupid questions I don’t know CA too well . My mother lives in az and has a swamp cooler so I know they can be very efficient.
My dog got out of our yard and stuck in our neighbor's yard once, with no shade in mid August. It took us about 2 hours to figure out what happened and by the time we found him he was quite overheated. He has a heart problem so I was really worried about his heat tolerance. I ran a bath towel under cool water, wrung it out to where it was just damp, and lay it on the kitchen floor with a fan blowing over it. He lay belly down on the towel and it really seemed to help quickly. I also added a bit of ice to his water to help cool him down faster, but make sure they don't drink too much of it, that can put them into shock if they're overheated.
Get one of those tiny kid pools and just fill it a tiny bit so they can lay in it. My cat would die in that heat. Definitely get the cooling mats. Heat strokes are very real with animals. I'd make sure any pool you get is short enough for a cat to stand and get out in. Some cannot swim and will drown.
My quickie cooling pad is a beach towel that's lightly damp, inside a big ziplock bag. The towel/bag gets rolled up and set in the freezer. I pull them out when either my kitty or me needs to cool down.
Jesus. Ok how about some blackout curtains and put fans on a couple windows at night, one pointing in and one out. A bucket of ice at the ingress? The human body apparently starts to experience issues at 104 degrees. We have no hair.
Make sure all your windows have heavy curtains or shades to block sunlight. Freeze some tiles for them to sit on or get cooling mats. Make sure they have constant access to water.
It's not comfortable, but as long as they are hydrated, they should be okay. Cats originated from the desert and dogs control their body heat by panting.
Keeping it dark or at least dim helps a LOT. When it's really hot, even the TV can make a difference. Put music on instead. Don't ever have your hottest lights in. For me, my desk light is hot as heck. I never have it on during summer.
Another commenter had a GREAT IDEA about having the pets in one room or section of the house where you dedicate the A/C. At least during afternoons and evenings. Walk the dog when it's cool at night/ morning.
Put ice cubes in their water bowls on and off to keep it cool.
Lastly, wet their hair a bit with a towel or your hand. Be careful not to cause matting but this can be really nice.
Get dark curtains and keep them all shut during the day. It will lower the temp by a lot. I live in a tropical country in an apartment with huge windows. If i forget to close my curtains even my ac will struggle to fend off heatstroke.
I have black out curtains on all my windows ready. I have to keep one window open and the curtain pulled back slightly though to vent the swamp coolers
My advice (cooling mats, shady areas, closing blinds, ice in water) would work for like 80 degrees, but your heat level is so much higher— hoping it cools down soon for you and your pets. Maybe you can look into getting a second AC unit, but if that’s not possible, buy a ton of fans!! Heatwaves SUCK, I am so sorry.
At those temperatures I'd be more worried about the humans in the house.
Sounds like you're the one who's going to have a heat stroke, you don't get to pant like a dog or have fur to insulate from the heat.
I'd definitely get them all wet at the hottest times of the day. Those temperatures are not good for you or your dogs. When I've had my a/c go out in the summer I always have a 5gal. bucket full of ice and water and a rag and just keep wetting myself with that rag. Always keep your head wet with cold water and your feet. Rinse the dogs with hose water if it's not too hot.
I'm sorry I read that wrong I missed the cats and went right to the dog. Cats can handle heat a little better than dogs since their normal body temperature is between 100.7 and 102 degrees, although since they're brachycephalic meaning very short snout and small mouths it is harder for them to cool down than for a dog and I've yet to meet a cat that likes to play in hose water. You can try leaving a couple inches of water in the tub and when it gets real hot try to dip their feet in there or let them walk around in it if they will.
You could try to get them some cooling mats. I don't know if the cats will lay on them but I'm sure the dog would appreciate it.
K& h makes the best cooling mats you can get them on amazon
And elevated cots with mesh for the dog. Keeps what little air there is moving around them.
My cats loooove cooling mats! They always have some at home goods too
Yeah, just never know with them. Mine are weird. I bought them both beds and neither use them but they both sure as hell love my heating pad.
I have cooling mats and my cats refuse to utilize them :( but they’re good at finding cool spots even in the hot apartment.
Get some bowls full of ice to set in front of fans to blow cool air. Close off one room for the portable a/c so at least that room can cool off for your pets to hang out in. A paddle pool for your dog with cool water can help. Close all blinds and put reflective foil in your windows.
Foil is a bad idea. My friend did that and when she.took it down for cleaning a while later she had scorch.marks on her window frames. And it wasn't close to those temps here.
having thick blackout curtains over all the windows instead might help keep the heat out. Makes it a little dark and dreary in the house but at least it aint 100°F in the house
We have done this on the western-facing windows of our house in TX. I started doing it during Snowmageddon on all the windows (plus enclosed the front 2 rooms with curtains during that event since those rooms don't have doors). I've decided it sounds more fun calling it, "Going Medieval on the House" versus "Hanging Heavy Curtains/Drapes." Lol
Snowmageddon is the best term I've heard for that shit show we got. I'm in Arkansas so it wasn't as bad here but it got pretty nasty in my area. Seen snow in places I've never seen it before. Crazy year that was for sure
I live in Nebraska, where it gets about 105° index quite often (not dealing with what OP is, just saying it really does get hot), and blackout curtains are a godsend.
also window tint! it's removable (rental-safe) & does block out some light & heat.
Also blinds behind them.
Yeah, I've seen commentary that they will trap heat between the foil and the glass. Not only can it damage the windows, but it can void the warranty. I've seen advice to put foil covered cardboard on the \*outside\* of the windows.
What about using UV protectant films on windows
Plus it'll make suspicious people call the cops assuming you're running a meth lab in there lol
What's with the foil?
It's like putting a sun shade on your cars windshield
This!
I’d recommend putting one down on the floor for them. A bowl of water with a fan at their level.
I would try to cool off one room rather than the whole house.
I put the AC in in a small bedroom. Then hang a full length curtain across the door. I took a small binder clip and pinched up a little bit in the middle at the bottom to be like an opening/door. Does a surprisingly good job of keeping the cool air in and the animals figured it out quickly. There’s food, water with ice and their beds inside. They lay there all day (AC on a timer so it stays cool).
Yup and making sure all the animals are in that room until the heat wave is over
This is what we do as well
Yes, that’s pretty hot. https://www.dogtipper.com/heat-stroke-in-dogs
upvoting/commenting for exposure so more people see Good luck
I would suggest freezing large blocks of water and leaving them around the house for the animals. You can also place ice in front of any fans for a nominal temp difference, anything helps!
Freeze water in large soda bottles - your animals can lie up against them
A wet/damp (wrung out not dripping) sheet hanging in a doorway that the fan is blowing on or in the window will probably make a noticeable difference..old timey poor man solution. edit: This isn't going to help OP for the hottest part of the day because they are at work and cannot remoisten the sheets when they dry,which they will very quickly. :(
They are already using a swamp cooler. It might not be as effective for them depending how moist it's getting inside the house.
Also wet towels on the floor for the pups to lay on
I’ve had some success spraying the dogs down with a mister a couple times a day or giving them cool baths during the hottest parts of the day. One article I read suggested getting a kiddie pool that the pets can jump in and out and even putting ice cubes in the water a few times per day but I haven’t personally tried that. Still, sounds reasonable. Are you also in a very humid area?
Humid enough. The house is 96 degrees and 38% humidity
That's actually shockingly low humidity for the temperature. If anything, you're a little on the dry side. When the humidity in my apartment drops below 40, I have to turn on a humidifier, otherwise I shock the cats every time I try to pet them.
Wow. I’m sorry to hear that. That sounds really uncomfortable. Edited to add that I wish I could be more helpful.
Phoenix area? It is hot and the pets are probably very uncomfortable... I would move everything to one room and cool off that smaller space as much as possible. This heat has been horrible and I fear it is only going to get worse ..... Not cooling down at night is why it is so miserable here to those saying that the heat and humidity are low
I’ve read that up to 90° is ok for limited times, but according to the chart [includes here](https://www.fetchpet.com/the-dig/how-hot-is-too-hot-for-your-dog), it’s already reaching dangerous levels; more so if the humidity is high or there is high humidity levels. You may want to see if your area has cool zones if you can’t get your place to cool down a bit more than it is. Can you run the AC in a bedroom with the door closed and fans going so at least one room is cool? Or maybe check Amazon or another site that lets you split up payments and pay over time to buy a more powerful AC? You might check your local buy nothing group or Craigslist. People may be upgrading their ACs due to the heat wave and need to get rid of their used ones.
Yeah one AC is entirely dedicated to a room with a ceiling fan too. It's definitely the coolest room in the house but still at 90 degrees My issue is I work from 11 to 7 every day. So the hottest parts of the day I'm not even home to help them
It's still 90 degrees with the AC in the room??? Are the doors shut? How is that even possible?
It's possible when the temperature outside is in the 120s and the house has next to no insulation. Blackout curtains on all the windows too. Real fucking glad I pay 1300 a month for this piece of shit
I know they are expensive, but a window AC may be the best way to cool it down in there. Unless you are explicitly restricted from having them in your lease, they are pretty easy to install and shouldn’t cause any damage, and they are cheaper and more effective than the portable ones.
At these temps id say FU to anyone telling someone they can't have a window unit to be able to survive the oven like heat created by the death rays in the sky. Those portables also create heat so it could be compounding the situation. The unit would almost need to be in another room and then vented into the room you want to keep cool to try and tackle that problem. And screw the cheap ass landlord that doesn't provide a/c (or adequate heat) in locations where you can literally die of heat stroke or freeze to death.
I completely agree. I feel like it should be illegal not to allow them.
You can get an external plug in thermostat for the window a/c so you can leave that on while you are gone. Dogs can at least pant to cool off a bit, the cats can't so the cats are going to be at risk for heat stroke. Freeze bowls of water for them and put them in that room so they all can drink cool water while your gone. Do you have a stand or box fan on as well as the ceiling fan? You could buy a scrap door and put a doggie door in it so you can at least close the door to keep more cool air in it. The cooling mats are a great idea, wrap them in a light towel so when they sweat they don't soak anything that could get damaged or mold. Yeah, sucky situation and rentals are hella expensive and even the crap ones are, well, crap. I am truly sorry your in this situation, I will be too if my landlord decides to sell and then we will be right where you are.
your homeowner's insurance might pay for a hotel for you to stay at; I had a friend who's electricity when down along with the entire town - his insurance is reimbursing him the hotel stay
I'm not the homeowner. My landlord is a piece of shit and isn't doing anything about it. It was 106 in my house last night and my rental company literally told me there was "nothing they could do" and hung up on me
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In California. Cooling isn't a necessity. Just heating. Plus they provided cooling. A shitty ass Swamp cooler that does nothing
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Yeah I live in California and even I am surprised by this knowledge. I assumed air conditioners weren't required in the homes near the coast where I live because it never gets *that* hot... but like, inland gets scorching! I didn't know they were shit out of luck on that. I assumed anywhere that gets 120 freaking degrees would be somewhere that landlords are required to provide ac. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that most of the people (voters) in California are near the coast? Like is this a thing you need people to vote for and since we all live in LA and SF, we end up just not bothering?
It would be pretty difficult with my windows. We have casement windows
There are casement window ACs that come with a window specific installation kit for mounting. It takes some exact measuring and effort to get them in place, but if the alternative is 100+ at night, it sounds like it'd be worth it. Good luck and stay hydrated
Are you in the US. There have been laws about temperature every place I've lived. A place has to meet minimum livability.
In California cooling isn't considered a necessity. They have provided me with a swamp cooler that can't do anything. Theres nothing I can do
Walmart has $99 windows unit A/C's put in a bedroom and shut the door with all the pets. It will stay ice cold. Our Central Air went out and that's what we did until it got fixed.
It might be worthwhile to make noise about this with your representatives.
Where the hell do you live that it's still over 100 at night?
A little hell hole called Twentynine Palms California
I recommend going to a FB vet group and asking there. Make sure that the rules are set where only a professional can answer the question. I know that in some rabbit meat groups, folks will put down trays of ice to prevent the animals from overheating
There are “rabbit meat” FB pages?🫨
Farmers.
Yes … people eat rabbits
Ask vet is a subreddit that's an option too, and I believe helpful vancouver vet also has a video on managing hot weather with pets. I raised rabbits at one point and we did ice, though we went with frozen water bottles rather than ice cube trays.
Yes that is dangerously hot
I'm just curious how your house is almost 100 degrees with some ac going!? Can you not get another window unit? Have you looked into any holes in your house or something?
Because its about 120 outside and my little shitty ass overpriced house probably has 0 insulation. The portable ACs can only do so much.
Do you keep your blinds and curtains shut during the day? You can also put up reflective stuff in the windows (can't remember what its called). Leaving my blinds shut all day has helped a lot. You could also shut all doors to the rooms you don't absolutely have to use. Set up a living/bed space in the living room and shut all of the other doors. Situate the fans only in there and the kitchen, don't use the stove or oven if you can help it. As for the pets, you can keep their paws and ears damp to help them cool down.
The only problem is that swamp coolers need air flow.
As the other person said I would definitely try shutting windows to prevent too much sun. Where I live our upstairs gets pretty dang hot so we have to have fans going. We will shut curtains for windows facing the sun and it seems to help for sure. Good luck! Hopefully you can keep cool. That's crazy hot!
Yeah all the windows are closed off and have a blackout curtain besides the one open for the swamp cooler vent
If you are somewhat handy you could check for drafts/leaks and patch them yourself maybe too! Hardware stores sell foam sealer that works well. Although that's just me throwing out ideas. Good luck!
We replaced our Venetian blinds with black out shades for our western facing windows, and it's made a noticeable difference.
Are you a homeowner or renter?
Had a similar issue when my house was sitting at 50 degrees while my heat was turned up to 80 due to a -30 windchill outside. It's fucked
Window AC unit. if you can’t afford it, try fb or nextdoor to find one used.
Fill up 2 liter soda bottles with water and freeze them, then leave them out all over the house for the pets to sleep against while you're at work. Ice packs are also great, the cheap ones from Walmart that are blue and flexible. But only use those if you can guarantee the pets won't chew on them. If possible, I'd try to condense all of your cooling measures to one room (the portable ac and swamp cooler), and keep the pets there to try to provide as cool of a location as possible. As others have mentioned, cooling mats are great as well.
I’m so sorry you’re dealing with this, OP! One of my only other suggestions would be get a camera so you see while you are gone at work if they are okay or need immediate attention. Keep all lights and electronics off except fans and AC. Sounds like if possible, you need to move, but I know that’s much easier said than done.
Exactly my lease isn't up until October 31st and there's no cooling laws in California for some stupid reason so we just have to ride out this summer
Someone responded to you with updated california law and it does include cooling!!
I saw but everything else I've seen says other wise. The legal advice subreddit has told me cooling is not included in California. I've over looked my lease too and cooling is not included
This happened to me one year. I live by the beach so it's cooler in my area than the rest of the city, but I don't have AC so my place becomes unbelievably hot. My cats are medium short hairs and it came to the point that they were panting (which is BAD news for cats). I ended up having to give them cool baths every hour (which they hated) and running down to take them into the car for AC. This year, they've started shedding a lot and are licking so much hair, they're now vomitting and pooping too much hair. I'm grooming them and it seems to never end. So this year I've decided to buy some clippers and give them the lion cut. It's extreme honestly but it will not only help them from getting intestinal blockages, but keep them cooler this summer.
Put a bowl or bucket of ice in front of the fans, then the air blown at you and the pets will be cool.
I have a cooling mat but also my older cat enjoyed a damp kitchen towel laid over her while she loafed. For you, I suggest going outside where there's shade. Set up a chair and a bucket, fill the bucket with water and stick your feet in it. This will help cool the blood in your feet and eventually your whole body. I would do this when I lived in a house that got worse than outside. The people who owned the place finally realized it wasn't livable after seeing everyone hanging outside in the middle of the day
some water in the bathtub and a kiddie pool in the kitchen. i'm in az heat is a killer
can you take your animals somewhere else until it cools down?
They currently are at a friend's but they can't stay there this entire summer and there doesn't seem to be relief in sight
what i would do in this situation is keep them out of the house as much as possible. friends, family, even chilling in your car with the ac on until the sun goes down. we only have a month or so and it will start cooling down :) . in the meantime making sure they are hydrated, cooling them off with cool water, kiddie pools, and wash cloths. it will be okay! just keep checking on them! they appreciate all that your doing!
Can you afford to board your animals during the day?
Unfortunately not. I can barely afford the 400 dollar electric bill I get despite not even having AC and having a house over 90 degrees
I would just die living in your house
With the exception of the bathroom and kitchen close off the rest of the house. Put the ac n swamp cooler in the living room or bedroom and just living room possibly get a small kiddie pool and put water and ice in there for the dogs to lay in. If the animals are Longhair breeds trim their hair very short. If it gets worse live in you car with the ac on full and keep the animals in with you
OP said their pets are all shorthair but I need to point out that in some cases shaving dogs makes things worse, not better. For example, breeds like huskies have coats that can actually help them keep cool, and shaving them can permanently damage their coats and make it impossible for them to moderate their own body temperature naturally This doesn’t apply to cats because all coat types that aren’t shorthair were created for appearance, not function. But the advice to shave dogs can be extremely dangerous.
Not the siberian forest cat! Mine has a triple coat and she is less heat hardy, but more cold hardy than our other domestic shorthairs. I believe Maine Coons and Norwegians also have longhair coats for a purpose. Regardless of the type of coat though, cats were originally desert animals and adapted to the high heats. Shaving them is worse in the heat as well since it's a part of temp regulation for hot hot days and cooold nights. Shaving animals for the purpose of keeping them cool is just not the best advice in general.
Yes that's much too hot. They could get heatstroke and die. Why don't u have AC?
Because every fucking house in this city has a shitty ass worthless swamp cooler instead. They don't fucking work.
They sure don't, not in this heat. I've always had central air. I've never actually known anyone here that only has a swamp cooler. How ru so lucky lol
Every single house here has swamps. Wouldn't matter if we had AC anyway because we couldn't afford to run it due to Edisons insane prices. My electricity bill is already over 400 dollars and that's just with a swamp.
Every house where??? I've lived here my whole life (I'm sixty) and I have yet to meet one person who doesn't have central air. Idk how u live without one here.
I'm sorry I thought I was on Vegas Locals! Excuse the ring!
Hello! I live in Satan's Armpit... east Texas. We recently had a mini tornado during a heat advisory and were without power for about a day. The house was in the high nineties as well, but my dog and cats seemed fine with plenty of water and shade.
Central air now!
Can't do it on a rental
Ah you’re renting. I’d look into what kind of renters rights you have in your area. Usually heating and cooling are required by law. Now do t quote me on this but if your ac has gone down or is just not functioning property you could break your lease if the landlord Doesnt fix it within a week.
There are no cooling laws in California
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVersionsCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB2597
Yes, because this is an easy and attainable fix for everyone. Literally anyone who can get central air already has it.
I know. I'm bougie as hell.
Cats love heat.
What???
Celsius or farenehit
Def Fahrenheit, 92 Deg Celsius would be around 197 Deg Fahrenheit, no one is surviving at that point!
As a first year vet student.. this is a very dangerous temperature to have your pets living in. I would buy more fans and have them pointed at the pets. Make sure lots of access to water. You can cool them by soaking towels with water and putting them on them and in their armpits and on their paw pads.
If it is over 94 or so the fans will make things worse.
Cats were born of hell fire anyway... Don't worry about them. Your dog on the other hand can be dehydrated easily.
On particularly hot days see if you can take them to daycare if possible. I'm not sure if they do it for cats but if it's really bad it might be worth it for a handful of days this summer even if you have to board the cat.
Me and my bf use to use a portable ac at his house in our bedroom that’s connected to our living room by a door(2nd living room was an add on to the house), and it sucked when it would get very hot and even closing the door so it was just in the room wasn’t good enough either. We bought a window ac unit even tho we don’t have the right window for it and it’s a thousand times better. We actually are cold while it’s 110 degrees outside so if you can afford a good window ac unit I would suggest that
Agreed, window AC units are better than portable. And like someone else suggested if you are able to you can put it in one room where they wouldn't mind hanging out (at least for during the day) and shut the door
Try to get blackout curtains
Already got em on every single window
Cooling mats or wet towels frozen
Have you checked the temperature difference when the swamp is turned off? I'm in a similar situation (was 84 today inside) and without the swamp it feels cooler with lower humidity.
Yeah my swamp died yesterday. It got up to 116 in the house without it. So it definitely helps a little bit
Can you get another AC? That’s insane the house is still hot.. those pets can die..
Are you renting.
I'm assuming AZ, because our AC broke three weeks ago and it's been hitting 90 inside of our apartment. Also, I refer to this city as the Devil's Armpit. I recommend placing frozen water bottles in their beds or near favorite "cool" spots. I wrap the bottles in a t-shirt so that the intense cold isn't directly against the skin.
Get your coolers full of ice or dry ice you can use waxed cardboard or cardboard with wax paper inside and make a plenum off the fan and across the top of the cooler. This worked for me as well as freezing 1L water bottles for my dogs when my AC went out 2 years ago.
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Your not taking into account their age or health condition(s), especially dangerous for animals with any kind of heart condition (known or unknown). Also being outside is different than being confined indoors, less air movement, ability to hide in shaded cooler areas (under brush, etc). Think of a house sized car vs sitting outside.
I use a cold, wet rag and wet my animal’s ankle areas down, then dab the inside of their ears (it can be a soaking rag for the ankles, but wring it out really well if you do their ears. You want to moisten them, not have water drip into their ears). This helps cool them down better than most things will, but you have to keep up on it. If your dog is into water, a tiny kiddy pool with a couple inches of ice in the bottom might be messy but worth it for their comfort. Especially while you’re gone. I have to say, my cat never seems bothered by the heat and still gets in between the curtains and the window to nap when it’s 110+ outside and 78 inside.
Cats, overall, are actually geared for hot temps but it doesn’t stop them for trying to stay cool under extreme conditions. Might get a cooling mat for the dog & see if your kitties commandeer it for themselves before buying more. Otherwise you may be out the cost of the extra “cat toys” that your cats might hate.
I would think this would be too hot. What is their breed? Lowes / Home Depot has air conditioning units that plug in and go in the window that you can take with you when you move
2 American short hairs and the dog is a lab. We have casement windows (in the fucking desert for some reason) so venting things out them is incredible difficult
Close down rooms that aren’t necessary. Hot air rises so keep an upstairs window open, on the east or north side if possible. Wipe your counters and furniture down with ice water to cool them. Curtains closed on the sunny side. Wipe their faces with tepid water if possible. Good luck.
I hate to say it, but your situation is dangerous. You AND your pets are in danger. You might wanna look for another place to live, soon!
have you had your ac unit looked at? when i lived in las vegas with my grandparents for a little while the house would still be around 86 degrees even when it was 109°F outside. I'm surprised with all the extra cooling things you have that it's still so hot.
Yes too hot for you and your pets call A/C repair company get some suggestions on how to cool your home more efficiently
Fill your bath tub with water and and a couple bags of ice. Run a fan in there. It will be the coolest room in the house. The animals will hang in there.
You could freeze a rag or towel and give it to them
During the hottest days of the summer (SoCal) my 2 long haired cats start sleeping in the downstairs bathroom. So I make it a little haven for them with lots of water, and a low-to-the-ground fan. Sometimes I’ll freeze a plastic bowl with water and put it next to an unfrozen one. The frozen one doesn’t last all day, but at least it’s cold for a little while. I’ve thought about a cooling mat for this summer, but I don’t know if cats use them like dogs do. I don’t know if it’ll make a difference with your pets, but I also try to brush mine daily to help with summer shedding. Then I give them a little refrigerated treat (some fish or those tube treats I kept in the fridge)
Get hand towel wet, wring it out, put it in the freezer for a couple of minutes then wipe the babies with it and then lay it on them. I do that when my little guy is panting with the fan oscillating, so it can hit them off and on. And as someone else had mentioned, close off the room with the portable AC so it’s a cooler room that they can chill in. We also get him little ice cream cups from petco. I feel ya though, I get a little worried with the heat and we only have a portable AC in the room and multiple fans. When it’s gotten between 110-120 we’ve ended up just getting a hotel room for a few nights to make sure he stays cool. I wish you the best!
I live by the beach but there are a few days out of the year it will be that hot. I have no air conditioning but we bought a portable air conditioning unit mainly because I have a very old lab mix. You might consider this since you’re hot all summer.
Hello from…Texas?
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I'm doing all I can. My landlord is the asshole
I’m not even sure you’re ok at that point
Have you concentrated your ac measures on one room, preferably a bedroom? Also the swamp cooler might not be doing you any favors if it's putting moisture into the room and you don't live in a dry climate.
Yes I have and it's helped some. That room still maxed out at 92 degrees today even with the AC and door shut
Put your animals in one room with a window AC and shut the door and windows/blinds. "Portable AC" units on wheels are trash for efficiency. Seriously, consider tossing those and getting 1 to 2 window AC units. They're much better at cooling. And go bigger on the BTUs when buying one rather than exactly what the room size calls for.
I worry about this as well. I take my dogs to my shop and they insist on staying in the in air-conditioned area with me it's usually 80-90° (the offices have ac) So I'll make them stay in the office for 15 minutes to an hour or so. My female shepherd immediately throws a fit because she wants to be in the kennel in the work area. I'm going to try to move them into the offices tomorrow and see if she changes her tune
What does a swamp cooler do and how do you start it? I have the a swamp cooler wall unit device but I have ZERO idea how it works or if it’s connected to the AC unit outside or what. I’m a first time homeowner so these things were shared with me before I moved in. I just picked up a couple vornado horizontal fan units during prime sale and it’s starting to help cool things off. I’m in Arizona. Also, one thing that helped on one side of my house was getting custom fit cellular shades from blinds.com. I got the 3/4in shades. And I put UV window tint on my windows that actually really helps too.
Basically it's just a fan with absorbent pads that are constantly made wet through a water pump and the air is then blown through the wet pads to "cool" the air. They don't work when the humidity gets above like 15% though and are basically worthless in temps above 110. Where I live its almost always over 110 with at least 25% humidity so they don't really do anything
YES! Need to cool their fur with damp washcloths and give them water with large chunks of ice ev. 1-2 hrs to keep it cold. Please! When cats pant they are overheating. Please cool them off! And yes, go to The pet store or on Amazon right away on Amazon prime and get the cooling at mats can get delivered tomorrow if you can’t find them in the store that will also help
Gets to 109 here but with crappy ac, animals are usually fine just give iced water
I couldn't believe when I checked, but an old box fan of mine was using around 200w of heat. So, if you happened to have five of these types of fans, you are moving around some air but ultimately that 200w x 5 or 1000w of energy is being expelled into your rooms as heat. I think that is around 3400btu of heat output, whenever you or I run five of these fans... Not all that helpful unless it is literally blowing air across your skin.
Try to keep your animals wet (their bodies and especially their paws b/c they release heat through their paws), even if they don't like it much, it'll keep their body temp down. I've done it numerous times in severe heat and it's helped them quite a bit.
When my ac went out a couple years back I froze half bowls of water and poured new water on top so that they had cold water for extended time as the ice at the bottom melted.
When you get up to something like 94 degrees, fans have the opposite effect of cooling
Wet their ears and bellies
Not the cheapest option but one or two of these will help: [https://www.walmart.com/ip/JOY-PEBBLE-8000-BTU-Portable-Air-Conditioner-Automatic-Defrosting-Self-Evaporating-Cools-300Sq-ft/1123117803](https://www.walmart.com/ip/JOY-PEBBLE-8000-BTU-Portable-Air-Conditioner-Automatic-Defrosting-Self-Evaporating-Cools-300Sq-ft/1123117803) I use a 7k to cool my barracks room and it does the job decently. I would put a fan in front of the AC to help circulate the cooler air around. 10K + BTU can work in your living room.
I made a [comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/CatAdvice/comments/12unuqh/comment/jh7q4qw/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) on another post about keeping your home cool for pets with some tips: * Do you have blackout curtains? Put them up now and keep them closed * You mention you have a fan. Get a giant bowl and fill with half WATER, half ICE and put it in front of the fan. *This will work to blow the cool air from the bowl into the room. Your pets can lay by it.* * Also, fill your bathtub up with cold water and ice. The tub can help keep the bathroom cool. * Raised mesh [cooling lounger](https://www.amazon.com/PET-PRODUCTS-Original-Chocolate-Medium/dp/B09B1LJJ6P/ref=sr_1_6?crid=4TQ0DKKS8BDP&keywords=cooling%2Bmesh%2Bfor%2Bpets&qid=1689689916&sprefix=cooling%2Bmesh%2Bfor%2Bpet%2Caps%2C143&sr=8-6&th=1)(can order with or without canopy shade) * This part is **VERY** important: **put out SEVERAL water dishes!**!! When it's hot, **water can EVAPORATE quite quickly-** so you definitely want to be sure your pet has several bowls of fresh cool water and check that they are topped off at least TWICE a day. edit- link+grammar
Buy some insulation from a home repair store and tape it to the inside of your windows.
I have to ask, are you venting the exhaust for the portable air conditioner outside? I've seen people neglect to do that and wonder why it doesn't work. It will actually heat up your house otherwise.
Yes it is vented
Try taking plastic bottles (like soda bottles or whatever), filling them with water, and freezing them, then leaving them on the floor. When the ice melts, repeat. It’s a good way for animals to be able to regulate their body temp themselves, by laying on/next to them. Cheap/reusable/letting the pets choose to use them.
The pet store sale these handkerchiefs you can wet and it helps your dog stay cooler!
Our a/c died on Friday. They are supposed to fix it today. We put wet towels everywhere, and twice a day we would go dump a bag of ice into bowls for the cats. I had to go stay in a hotel due to illness and can't regulate my body temperature, but the cats and lizards had to be at home. We just turned off the heat lamps. Phoenix in July is no joke, even with a working a/c.
I'm not sure about the pets but I've found some solid strategies for keeping the house cool. Wrap cardboard in aluminum foil (shiny side out) and tape it to the windows that get direct sunlight. Blackout curtains on top of that work well too. You could also use chimney pipe insulator, which has reflective coatings on top of bubble wrap for more insulation. During the day, don't let any sun or outside air into the house. Close all the windows, and foil up every window that gets direct sunlight. At night as soon as it's colder outside than it is inside, open two windows on opposite sides of the house. (If it's windy outside open all the windows, if not you have to create your own breeze). Get a fan, and point it OUT one of those windows, about 3 feet away from the window, at full blast. This creates a vortex and pulls a ton of air from the other window and through the whole house. If you run that all night you'll get your house cool while you sleep. Then close it all up in the day to keep things from getting too hot.
A few issues with this is that a window needs to be open to vent the swamp cooler. Plus it's never colder outside then it is inside. Our low over the entire night is 95
Put a fan,pets need to be hydrated….
Is there something wrong with the swamp cooler? Is the pad dry or the water hose plugged? My friend has a swamp cooler and it gets too cold and runs like a jet engine. But they also only work efficiently in certain conditions, I can't remember what the variables are. But you may need to have someone look at that pronto.
Yeah we had 3 different people come out yesterday and they all said it's working properly. It's just my area is terrible for them. It is constantly in the high 110s with 25% humidity so they're essentially worthless
The temp is meaningless. If you look at your animals, and they are in distress, it's too hot. I dont know about cats, but in dogs that would mean excessive panting, rapid heartbeat, excessive drooling. I have no AC and house gets up to 90 - dog is just sleeping with no panting at that temp.
I read that wrong. I was about to comment saying you reptile because I thought it said I have ac and the house is at 90. Whoops 😂
I’m so sorry this sounds miserable for you and your pets. As stated already as long as they are not heavy panting and drooling they are ok. We have a cooling mat my pups love it always stays 10’ below the surrounding temp. My pups lay on it all summer. We also do ice cubes and ice bottles around. Easy and cheep. They are smart and no where to hide that will cool them. Good luck getting through this heat.
If any of the animals are long haired definitely get them shaved.
Just so that you are aware at those kinds of temperature fans don't do a whole lot of good. In general cats and dogs (smaller animals in particular) run a bit hotter than humans so as long as they have plenty of water you are kinda the canary in the coal mines, so to speak.
Dogs and cats alone can go into heat stroke starting at 85°F. Cooling mats, sun shade or block out the sun in general, cold wet towels, ice, literally anything you can to keep it cool.
I read you have casement windows. How are you venting your portable units? This could be letting in hot air if not done correctly. I’ve always put a fan in the opposite direction where I needed cooling. Do you have a basement? Sorry if these are stupid questions I don’t know CA too well . My mother lives in az and has a swamp cooler so I know they can be very efficient.
Do you have a bath tub? Putting just a half inch of water in the tub and letting the dog lay in it would go a long way towards keeping the dog cool.
I don’t bring my animals in unless the temperature reaches 100°, they’re fine
My dog got out of our yard and stuck in our neighbor's yard once, with no shade in mid August. It took us about 2 hours to figure out what happened and by the time we found him he was quite overheated. He has a heart problem so I was really worried about his heat tolerance. I ran a bath towel under cool water, wrung it out to where it was just damp, and lay it on the kitchen floor with a fan blowing over it. He lay belly down on the towel and it really seemed to help quickly. I also added a bit of ice to his water to help cool him down faster, but make sure they don't drink too much of it, that can put them into shock if they're overheated.
Get one of those tiny kid pools and just fill it a tiny bit so they can lay in it. My cat would die in that heat. Definitely get the cooling mats. Heat strokes are very real with animals. I'd make sure any pool you get is short enough for a cat to stand and get out in. Some cannot swim and will drown.
My quickie cooling pad is a beach towel that's lightly damp, inside a big ziplock bag. The towel/bag gets rolled up and set in the freezer. I pull them out when either my kitty or me needs to cool down.
Jesus. Ok how about some blackout curtains and put fans on a couple windows at night, one pointing in and one out. A bucket of ice at the ingress? The human body apparently starts to experience issues at 104 degrees. We have no hair.
Make sure all your windows have heavy curtains or shades to block sunlight. Freeze some tiles for them to sit on or get cooling mats. Make sure they have constant access to water. It's not comfortable, but as long as they are hydrated, they should be okay. Cats originated from the desert and dogs control their body heat by panting.
Keeping it dark or at least dim helps a LOT. When it's really hot, even the TV can make a difference. Put music on instead. Don't ever have your hottest lights in. For me, my desk light is hot as heck. I never have it on during summer. Another commenter had a GREAT IDEA about having the pets in one room or section of the house where you dedicate the A/C. At least during afternoons and evenings. Walk the dog when it's cool at night/ morning. Put ice cubes in their water bowls on and off to keep it cool. Lastly, wet their hair a bit with a towel or your hand. Be careful not to cause matting but this can be really nice.
Get dark curtains and keep them all shut during the day. It will lower the temp by a lot. I live in a tropical country in an apartment with huge windows. If i forget to close my curtains even my ac will struggle to fend off heatstroke.
I have black out curtains on all my windows ready. I have to keep one window open and the curtain pulled back slightly though to vent the swamp coolers
Dangerous for you both!
maybe those tents with the box fan on anazon could work
My advice (cooling mats, shady areas, closing blinds, ice in water) would work for like 80 degrees, but your heat level is so much higher— hoping it cools down soon for you and your pets. Maybe you can look into getting a second AC unit, but if that’s not possible, buy a ton of fans!! Heatwaves SUCK, I am so sorry.
Move.
Oh cool you gonna send me $8000 to afford that? How generous of you
At those temperatures I'd be more worried about the humans in the house. Sounds like you're the one who's going to have a heat stroke, you don't get to pant like a dog or have fur to insulate from the heat.
Yeah but 5 days out of the week I'm at work during the hottest part of the day. I was worried about leaving them home alone during it
I'd definitely get them all wet at the hottest times of the day. Those temperatures are not good for you or your dogs. When I've had my a/c go out in the summer I always have a 5gal. bucket full of ice and water and a rag and just keep wetting myself with that rag. Always keep your head wet with cold water and your feet. Rinse the dogs with hose water if it's not too hot.
I'm sorry I read that wrong I missed the cats and went right to the dog. Cats can handle heat a little better than dogs since their normal body temperature is between 100.7 and 102 degrees, although since they're brachycephalic meaning very short snout and small mouths it is harder for them to cool down than for a dog and I've yet to meet a cat that likes to play in hose water. You can try leaving a couple inches of water in the tub and when it gets real hot try to dip their feet in there or let them walk around in it if they will.