Humans aren't the only ones suffering

Animals endangered by heat, too

Tufts' Dr. Steven Rowell: "It can get up to a 150 degrees in a car. You can't leave a pet there."

By Porter Anderson
CNN Career

(CNN) -- Even as people scramble for shade -- and air-conditioning and pools -- the sun of the Midwest heat wave is beating down on another population that can be hurt in high temperatures: animals.

"Think about how we, ourselves, would react to heat," says Dr. Steven Rowell. As director of both the Henry and Lois Foster Hospital for Small Animals and the Tufts Hospital for Large Animals, Rowell oversees a staff of some 200 people who annually treat roughly 21,000 small animals and 1,800 large animals in North Grafton, Massachusetts.

"That's the first step," Rowell says: If it's hot for you, it's hot for your animals.

"But then take a dog -- its physiology is different from ours," he says. "Dogs don't sweat as we do. They breathe through their noses and out through their mouths and so all the air goes back and forth over their mucous membranes and tongues and throats.

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"So they don't have as much capability for cooling as we do. They can dissipate some heat from their faces and ears, but that's by dilation of blood vessels -- they still don't have sweat glands like we do.

"Indoor dogs are probably going to be OK because they're inside where the people are, unless it's really hot without air conditioning.

"If you have an outdoor dog -- this is where we run into most of the problems -- you can see cases where the dog can't get access to shade. On top of that, they may not have free access to water. Maybe somebody puts water out, the dog drinks it and then nobody replenishes it for hours and hours, that's where we get into trouble."

A key point Rowell and most experts make is that pets simply must not be left in cars in the heat. "We actually have a rule against it here" on the Tufts University campus, "no animals can be left in cars. The police will track you down if they find an animal in your car here."

Symptoms of overheating in animals

Cats, Rowell says, seem to fare far better in high temperatures. "Cats seem to find a cool place they can crawl into," Rowell says. "They can get down into a basement easier than dogs can, find a cooler spot."

In dealing with larger animals, Rowell says, again it's mostly common sense. "Although they handle heat quite well," he says, "you can help them out a lot by wetting them down." Horses do sweat,of course, but being cooled by water and fans in their stables to circulate the air can be a plus.

For farmers and dairy people, "Cattle on the range tend to do pretty well. But you know a cow can drink 20 to 30 gallons per day. So water, again, is crucial.

"For people, too," Rowell says about the importance of water. "If you don't get enough water, you may get into trouble before you know it."

No stranger to heat

Rowell, 50 -- and the name is pronounced "ROE-well" -- was born "two towns over" from where he works now -- in Holden, Massachusetts. But the son of a phone repairman and a high school guidance counselor spent many years in the Southwestern heat of New Mexico.

EXTRA INFORMATION Heat index: Why it feels hotter   Map: States under heat advisory   Gallery: Heat wave bakes U.S.

Pandas in high temps As the heat rises in Washington, the pandas visiting from China have special shady areas and misters to keep them cool. Watch CNN on Thursday for correspondent Patty Davis' live reports from Panda House at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. And click here for all the background details on the pandas' handlers and habitat.

Tips for keeping your pet cool Keep plenty of cool, clean water in a spill-proof container available to your pets. Outdoor dogs may enjoy a baby pool filled with fresh water to lie in when the temperatures get high. Brush your pet's coat to keep it free of mats. Do not shave off your pet's coat, because bare skin can sunburn. Fur protects your pet from the heat and insects and retains cooling water after a refreshing swim or a wetting from a garden hose. Walk your pet during the cooler morning and evening hours. And, avoid the hot pavement, which can burn and blister your dog's paw pads. On hot, humid days, avoid running/jogging with your pet. Don't take your pet with you when you run errands. The temperature inside a parked car can kill a pet in a matter of minutes. When the temperature is 85 degrees, the temperature inside your car can soar to 102 degrees in 10 minutes, and 120 degrees in 30 minutes. And that's with the windows open and the car parked in the shade. Source: Virginia Beach SPCA

"I didn't really find veterinary medicine until my late 20s. I did my undergraduate work in geology" at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. "But I realized it was still the biological sciences I liked most, and I really had an interest in medicine. And as I looked more into both human medicine and veterinary medicine, something in the back of my head said, 'The vet side is what I really like to do.' We always had had animals when I was growing up.

"I had to go back to school, get the prerequisites, got a second bachelor's degree, in biology. At the same time, I worked in a small animal practice for about 30 hours per week both for money and for the experience. And I absolutely loved it."

Rowell thought that he'd be a small-animal practitioner the rest of his life. "I applied to veterinary school and that's when Tufts was opening its program. And I was accepted here at Tufts. So I basically came back home."

Rowell's wife is a third-grade schoolteacher. Their older son is likely going into computer engineering, and his younger son is 16.

A standard week for Rowell is a minimum of 50 hours of work, he says, plus time spent on-call. As senior practitioner, Rowell is asked for advice by residents and interns, while directing the administrative details of Tufts' veterinary center with departments in oncology, surgery and other disciplines.

"We have an emergency-critical-care center here, and it's open 24 hours per day, seven days per week. It's a logistical nightmare to cover all these shifts around the clock with doctors and technicians and a support staff. And it's expensive. To have all this capability on-hand at all time costs a lot.

"We not only have people trained specifically in emergency critical care but we also are one of the largest training programs in the country."

So when it comes to beating the heat? Rowell stays active in the community, serving as a Boy Scouts leader and doing things outside his career. "My wife reminds me what's important."

And he adds one note on care for animals in hot times: "If your dog's appetite seems to lag, but the dog is drinking," he says, there's probably nothing to worry about. "My dog will put off food to later in the evening when it's cooler," he says, "but she keeps on drinking" -- much as we find that in hot weather we might prefer to drink more fluids and eat less.

"There again, we can translate some of the things that happen to ourselves in this heat to our animals."