Top 10 Tips to Help Your Little Ones Stay Cool
Top 10 Tips to Help Your Little Ones Stay Cool
It doesn't take too much time (or money!) to make a real difference during the hot summer months (days?!) and ensure your little ones stay cool and healthy throughout the hot spell.
Here's our top ten tips to help you and your little ones - and we've added more detail further down the page if you would like to learn more!
- Block out the sun to give much needed shade
- Ventilate well during cooler evenings & mornings (important for house pets)
- Keep fresh water topped up throughout the day
- Put a cooling fan near (but not pointing at!) - and keep wires out of reach
- Put a bowl of water or damp cloths in front of fan to help cool the air
- Make your own ice packs with old water bottles - easy peasy!
- Ceramic tiles are a cheap and cool spot to sit on.
- Dampen tips of ears to help your little ones naturally cool down
- Add 1 or 2 ice cubes in the water bowl or bottle to keep the drinking water cool
- Feed any usual veg wet to increase hydration
Plus:
- It is important to keep a close watch for signs of heatstroke (lethargy, panting, salivating)
- Keep watch for signs of flystrike - especially important for those infirm, elderly or with a dirty bottom - indoors or outdoors, and use a flystrike preventer where appropriate
- Contact your vet as a matter of priority if heatstroke or flystrike suspected. These are both medical emergencies.
If you'd like a little more detail and further tips to achieve a cooler area for your little ones read on!
1. Shade
Giving your little ones shade during the hours of intense sunshine will make all the difference! Whether your little ones are outdoors in a run, a shed set-up, a free-range house bun or a hamster in the living room, being in the shade or having a shaded area out of direct sunlight is vital.
This could be achieved by simply attaching a bed-sheet over the window of a hutch, or perhaps covering the windows with card, or positioning an umbrella angled to shade a run. It won't matter if it is not pretty - function is better than form in these instances!
If you're living with house rabbits or have indoors pets, close the curtains on all windows where your little ones live (or ideally the whole home to keep it cool for you too!). This will help prevent the inside temperature rising through the day.
2. Ventilation
If your little ones live indoors, open doors and windows during the late evening and very early morning to let the cooler air in. Adding in a fan will help circulate the air and cool the home quicker if you have one, but just having the doors and windows open during these times will make the world of difference - especially when combined with shading (see point 1, above). Once the home has cooled down, close the doors and windows and curtains, and block out all sunlight - and you essentially 'lock in' the cool air!
3. Hydration
Staying hydrated is vital during the hot weather (a point to note for us humans too!). Keep your little ones' water fresh throughout the day - and where appropriate, add in a bowl of fresh water in addition to a bottle if you normally only provide a bottle. It's been demonstrated by study that better hydration is more easily achieved via bowl rather than a bottle as the little ones find it a more natural way to drink.
4. Cooling Fan
If you have a cooling fan, this is a great way of moving the air around and there are several tips you can use to help the fan cool the air too. Even a small (and cheap!) battery fan can really help - it doesn't have to be a turbo posh fan!
Battery operated fans have the advantage of being easy to place and they don't have the added problem of chewable wires! Some fans have a clip on the base rather than a stand, and these are quite handy too as they can be clipped to the side of a hutch, for example.
Setting the fan to 'oscillating' is a good idea as it maximises the air flow to help make the air 'feel' cooler.
5. Soup Up the Fan (not literally!)
It may sound really daft, but putting a bowl of water - or better, iced water - in front of the fan will help cool the air more quickly! If you don't have access to this (or don't have a fan), placing dampened towels around the area will also help lower the overall temperature of the area a little.
6. Make Your Own Ice Packs!
If you don't have a 'pucker' small animal Ice Pod, don't worry - you can easily create your own, but do not be tempted to use the ones designed for camping or picnics as these are generally NOT safe for pets.
To make your own, fill two small water bottles (or similar) with water - only fill 2/3 full to allow the water to expand as it freezes, put the lid on and pop into the freezer.
Once frozen (or even just when cold!) take one out to use. Cover with a towel or cloth to prevent your little ones coming into direct contact with a frozen surface, and put in their area. Monitor to make sure it's not leaking as it thaws, and once warm, it can be swapped with the other bottle - having one in the freezer while one is being used means you have access to an ice pack at all times, but there's nothing wrong with having just the one bottle and freezing it overnight - whatever works is great!
And of course, it doen't have to be a bottle - a sandwich box or plastic container is fine too!
7. Cool Sitting Surface
If you're able to pop down to your local DIY store, you can pick up a ceramic bathroom or kitchen floor tile for very little. No need to freeze or chill, just pop it into your little ones' area for a cool sitting spot!
And if you ever wondered why ceramic tiles always feel cool to the touch (which is a bit of a blow in the bathroom during winter!) it's all down to thermal conductivity; ceramic materials conduct heat very well - and when you touch the surface, a little of your heat is simply pulled out of you!
Here ends the science lesson!!
8. A Bit Warm?
If you think your little ones are getting a bit warm despite all the above being carried out, you can help them cool down a little by dampening the tips of their ears with cool (but not frozen!) water using your wet hand.
This can be done every so often throughout the day and will help your little ones cool themselves down naturally - whilst also good for hearing (and expression!) ears are one of the body's natural cooling 'devices'!
It is also fair to say that some rabbits have bigger 'cooling devices' than others ...
9. One Lump of Ice or 2
The water in your little ones' bowl or bottle can be kept cool with one or two ice cubes in it. We think it's best not add any more than that as too many cubes may affect natural drinking, make the water too chilly or possibly cause other issues.
Bowls can also be placed on pet-safe ice packs or on a ceramic tile to help keep the water cool - see point 7, above!
Do make sure the water is topped up throughout the day - not only will some water evaporate with the heat, your little ones will most likely consume more water than normal to help themselves stay hydrated.
10. Wet Veg!
We've already mentioned the importance of hydration - it's important throughout the year, but moreso during the heat. If you think your little ones are not consuming as much water as you'd like them to, there's nothing wrong with running their usual veg (if you feed it!) under the cold tap before feeding.
Feeding wet veg may not seem like you're increasing water intake much, but every little bit more really does help!
And Finally ...
We do hope you've found our Top 10 Tips to Help Your Little Ones Stay Cool useful - and do get in touch if you have a top tip we've not yet covered!
We'll share any top tips that we receive, and your top tip could just make all the difference to some little ones' life somewhere!
Stay safe, stay cool - and enjoy the sun ... it may not be here for long!!
