Heat exhaustion in Dogs (long)

In My Humble Opinion
1

Before I begin, I would like to state that I have been very, very throughly scared by the following event. I will never, ever, EVER do anything like this again.

So, today I finished my research project early (for once) and headed out to enjoy the day before it thunderstormed. A friend of mine is a medical resident (ie. very busy), so I come by periodically to take her 2 year old Lab out for runs. It was pretty (pre-thunderstorm), so I head over there for a very short run.

Now, I realized it was hot before I left, but it didn’t strike me as dangerously hot. I believe this was mistake #1. We start out for a short little 25 minute run, stopping for water halfway through and various other little sniffing breaks.

When we get back, she is pretty hot. I have a bad feeling, so I sit and watch her for a couple minutes. She is breathing very, very hard and fast. She still takes two treats.

Then she dry heaves and brings up a little bit of clear vomit. uh oh.

I get very concerned and we head for the vet. The vet and staff aren’t busy, take one look at her, and share my feelings of “uh oh.” They take a rectal temp - 107.

S**t. We take her back and hose her down. Then I hang around and watch her for a bit. She takes some water, is very active (dummy was trying to play with other dogs). The vet takes her temp again - 106. They check her gums and say she’s okay to go home.

We go home, she uses the little-doggy’s room and her breathing is nearly back to normal. She accepts two more treats, no vomiting and I tell my friend everything that happened. The dog is the center of attention and eats it all up.

I come back 30-45 minutes later with cookies for the vet and a bbq bone for the dog. She is entirely dry and cool, her breathing has normalized, she is oriented to person and place (I couldn’t figure out how to check time). She grabs the bone and goes to town.

So, my questions for the board…

1)Is she out of the woods? (ie - she’s not going to seize and die, right? right?)
2)Is there any lingering signs or symptoms I should watch for?
3)Do I need a follow up vet appointment?
4)Any other long term problems I should be aware of?

I honestly had no idea heat exhaustion was so dangerous to dogs…I don’t think I will ever forget it though. I’m going to call in another hour and make sure she’s still stable. I’m still a little scared since the phrase “multi-organ failure” was thrown out there. The vet told me she was probably okay, but I just can’t shake the feeling.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

2

We have some vet pros around here that I am sure will stop by shortly, but as I understand it, dogs don’t sweat, they pant. Needless to say this limits how much heat they can dissipate. Also if it is a black lab, in the sunshine black picks up heat like you cannot believe. I know when I was working on cars, if I go diesel drain oil on my arm (The blackest stuff you can imagine) and I then stepped into the sun, my arm felt like someone had turned a blow drier on it. It was instantly many degrees hotter. As my wife has said, you go wear a dark fur coat and run around in the sun and see how you like it.

3

Human beings who suffer from heat exaustion seem to be “out of the woods” once they cool off, rest, and rehydrate, so I imagine dogs would be too, wouldn’t they? The only time I had it (well, only time it was medically confirmed) I wasn’t warned about any lingering effects, anyway.

This might sound nutty, but I’m glad that the dog has heat exhaustion. See, when I was 18 we thought that was what was wrong with my dog when she passed out while taking a walk one summer. And did I ever catch hell for that! A vet visit soon revealed that not to be so - did you know that 15% of dogs on heartworm medication still are capable of getting it? My dog did. She nearly died from the cure, and she was luckier than the 50% of dogs who do in fact die while being treated - or did in 1995 when they used the old formula mentioned in the article, at least.

So yeah, I’m glad the dog has heat exhaustion.

4

Gosh, I hope so. I haven’t heard anything since - I tried calling and stopping by but no one was home (or more accurately, awake). I’m assuming if something terrible had happened I would have gotten a call.

I…suppose. I kinda wish I hadn’t endangered the dog at all, but that sounds like a glass-half-fulll way of looking at things - if I’m understanding you correctly.

Rick - thanks for the info. I had known about the panting thing - I think the thing that really shocked me is how quickly this can be lethal. It just never seriously crossed my mind that this was a situation in which she could die.

5

Dogs will kill themselves for humans. If you were running with another person, they’d stop and say “I can’t do this, it’s too much! I feel sick!” Dogs will run themselves to death because they are so happy to be out with a human, so the human has to take into account what will be too much for the dog. I once saw a dog that had burned all the pads off it’s feet when the owner took it for a short walk of a few blocks on the road. Dogs are just so eager to please they will do anything for people.

You say it was pre-thunderstorm so I am guessing it wasn’t very sunny however it can still be pretty darn hot when it’s overcast. It can sneak up on you worse when it’s overcast because you don’t expect it.

Yes, black dogs can get hotter because black absorbs more heat, dogs only sweat through their foot pads and panting and can easily get heat stroke or heat exhaustion from running in hot weather, even if it’s overcast.

A 107 temp sounds like it was heading toward heat stroke but it also sounds like you caught it early enough if the dog appeared fine after being cooled down. I would say if it’s been 24 hours and you’re not seeing GI signs like vomiting, profuse bloody diarrhea or petecchial or ecchymotic hemorrhages (pinpoint or large bruises) on the skin or no CNS signs like disorientation or seizures then you may have gotten lucky and have no long-term effects.

Since you said you will never do anything like that again, good. I don’t know where you live but in most parts of the country it’s already too hot for taking dogs for runs and long walks, especially in the middle of the day and even if it is overcast. Running with dogs should only be done when the weather is cool, you are on a soft surface, you have a young healthy non-brachycephalic breed and the run is very short and you take frequent breaks in the shade and provide water for the dog. If you want to spend time with the dog a little frisbee or ball-throwing might be better but again, do it early or later in the day when it’s cooler, take breaks in the shade and provide water.