Depending on the breed, that long coat might actually work as good insulation during the summer. The point of insulation is not keeping things warmer (or colder) as such, but to prevent the transfer of heat from the body to the air or vice versa.
Dogs don’t sweat as humans do, all over the body, but lose heat through their mouths (panting) and their feet, so a long coat doesn’t prevent them from sweating.
Cats certainly have a much higher tolerance for heat than either humans or dogs.
But I think there is a small range where human tolerance to heat/cold varies a bit, or can be learned. The first winter I lived here it I thought I was going to die of cold, I don’t think I was warm from May til November.
The next winters the outside temperature stayed the same, but I seemed to get better at coping, to the point that other people would be commenting on how cold it was and I’d be saying, “oh no, it’s not that cold today”.
A regional city an hour or so from me is reknowned for being very cold in the winter, but I often see people in the streets in just short sleeves … they’ve obviously got used to the temperature.
Really? What is that based on? As far as can be determined humans can tolerate almost any temperature provided they have sufficient water and humidity stays low. I doubt very much if the same can be said for cats. Similarly humans in the tropics are normally active in daylight hours, whereas cats simply stop operating until nighfall.
In many hot countries humans aren’t all that active in the hottest part of the day either (i.e. Mediterranean countries where shops and such will close for a few hours during the day, but open later at night), and where they are active there is generally lots of air-conditioning going on.
Cats don’t need daylight to operate, and their natural prey is active at night, so that’s when cats are likely to be more active. They sleep most of the day in winter as well, so it’s not the temperature which stops them operating.
Domestic cats seem to be descendents of small, wild cats living in desert climates, so they have evolved to cope well with heat, they have a slightly higher body temperature than humans as well. It was about 30c here yesterday, and some of my cats were outside sleeping in the sun, although they have access to the house and plenty of shade if they want it.
But the domestic cat is a very adaptable predator, I’ve read of cat colonies in sub-Arctic environments.
Well first off few Mediterranean countries are hot. You really do need to be in the tropics, or localised hotspots like Death Valley to get hot temperatures.
The second point is that you are confusing prference with tolerance. Given the preference people won’t operate outside a range of about 22-29oC. That is not at all the same as a claim that they can’t operate oustside that range. People in hot climates do indeed work in the middle if the day in temperatures well over 100oF.
That’s all true, but it misses the point. Cat’s will hunt in daylight in low temperatures. They simply will not hunt in daylight at temperatures over 100oF. Humans will routinely hunt and work in such temperatures.
But this is all a sideshow. This is GQ. You made a claim that cats have a much higher tolerance for heat than humans. Can you support that claim with anything at all?
Any number of experiments have been done demonstrating that there seems to be no realistic limit to the heat tolerance of humans. When I studied animal physiology 15 years ago it was simply accepted as fact that humans had the highest heat tolerance and highest operational temperature of any mammal species. I want to know whether you have any evidence or expertise that allows you to contradict this, or if you are just making it up.
Yes, they can and will, if their prey is also active. It was something like 35 C here a couple of days ago and one of my cats caught a small bird at lunchtime. But on the whole since prey species are active at night, and cats evolved as night predators, they don’t go hunting mice at noon because mice tend not to be active at noon.
Humans, not being cats, and having the advantage (or disadvantage) of being able to make decisions beyond the call of of biology, can decide to do things, such as work in high temperatures. Humans are also able to make alterations to their environment in order to facilitate their desire to work in high temperatures, or are able to use force to make other humans work under such conditions.
That was discourteous. What particular reason might you have for assuming I make things up? A simple request for further information would have sufficed.
I have read, in one of the books I own about cats, that cats can tolerate higher temperatures than humans. I have also observed my cats sleeping in places, such as right against my wood-fired stove, that would be much too hot for a human.
It appears that the reason for this is because the temperature sensors in cat’s bodies are less sensitive to extremes in temperature than those on their faces.
I asked once and you submitted a long post with no evidence. You still haven’t provided the requested evidence. Hence I suspect you are making it up.
That is not a reference. What is the name of the book, who is the author and please provide the quote where it says hat cats can tolerate higher temperatures than humans. That way we can evaluate the credibility of the source. Since you own the book this should be a simple request.
No, you have not. As I have already said, there are numerous experiments which show that there is practically no temperature that is too hot for a human.
Unless you have evidence that those temperatures were too hot for a human you are simply supporting one baseless assertion with another.
That makes no sense at all. The sensitivity of ‘sensors’ could only possibly be of assistance in increasing heat tolerance insofar as they help regulate temperature. If that were important then having less sensitive ‘sensors’ would decrease heat tolerance.