Keeping your pet warm with a cosy and comfortable place to sleep is a priority.
Hypothermia (abnormally low body temperature) can be life-threatening and kittens and puppies are at greater risk of succumbing but animals of any age may be affected.
Alfie, a gorgeous Tonkinese cat came into see us one morning after he had been missing overnight. His owner found him stuck behind a big storage container outside and he was very subdued, not moving much and definitely not his usual boisterous and smoochy self.
Besides some pain from bruising, probably from a fall, I found that he was pale, slightly dehydrated and his body temperature was so low it wasn’t even showing a reading on the thermometer, he was severely hypothermic!
We immediately set Alfie up on warm intravenous fluids, placed him on a heating pad and wrapped him in special thermal coverings to get his body temperature up.
After a short time, his thermometer reading was 34 degrees, nowhere near the normal 37 degrees but at least now it was registering. An hour later his colour was much better and his temperature was normal. He was moving around and he hoovered down a whole bowl of food, a very rewarding outcome!
By Dr. Liza Schneider, Holistic Vets
