My cat's been suffering a bit in the heat lately. She's a house cat, and this is her first hot summer!

All the windows are open, but it's hard to get a breeze going through where I live. Most of the time she's just lounging and snoozing during the day, and gets a bit more active during the evening, but it's almost as if she doesn't know what to do with herself.

I've been replacing her water every few hours, but she doesn't seem to be drinking as much as I'd thought she would. What I have been doing is padding her down every so often with a cold damp tea towel (her 'cat' towel) and also laying it on top of her when she crashed on the floor.

Is there any more I can do, or is she more tolerant of the heat than I'm giving her credit for? I know cats will often bake themselves stupid in the Sun - they are, after all, descended from desert cats originally. Maybe she just needs to acclimatise a bit more?

Is your cat ON heat?

Ice cubes in the water bowl work but be prepared to see the sods chuck them under the sofa

Two litre bottles of water in the freezer overnight and then on top of a towel to collect condensation

No no - she's been done! Crikey, she was more unbearable then! *mental block kicks in*


Sounds like a good idea, I'll try it out!

When my cat was young i did the same thing with the damp towel, thinking he was too warm. He also doesn't drink or eat as much in the summer. He is used to it now though and he will just find a bit of shade in the house to sleep in, or lies on the wooden floors.

The title attracted me to this thread!!

Cats originally were desert animals, so they actually cope very well with heat, and you won't find that they drink huge amount, as dogs do. They do tend to completely flake out in the heat, usually outside in the shade, or somewhere cool in the house (one of mine likes to go under a basket chair in the conservatory, another one just spreads himself out on the floor! The fact that they're flaked out doesn't mean they're suffering in any way, it's just what cats do in the heat, so no need to cool them down, they'll be fine.

Hehe, I'm beginning to realise that I reckon! The thing is that she's a very vocal tortie, so when she's lying there on the floor, she's always meowing and chirruping, so there's me thinking, "Oh no, she's really suffering!"

She got up before and had a little play, but she's flaked out on the floor again now. I keep getting up to give her a little fuss and she's purring away quite happily, so I think she'll be ok

If I didn't have things to do, I'd be flaked out beside a swimming pool in this heat (usually spend most of my holidays doing that), so I totally empathise with cats!

Ice cubes in the water very good idea have done the same for my cat, maybe try and set up a comfy area in a shaded spot or a cool room like the bathroom? I know it sounds weird but cats love the shade and cool during the hot weather! my cat has been drinking alot more water and going into cool shaded areas as well x

lol

You're not the only one !!

Must just be a scouse thing!! ha