Heat stroke cases are a regular occurance in small animal clinics at the warmer times of year but there is an enormous amount of misinformation and confusion, for both veterinary professionals and pet owners, about how best to treat and prevent it.
Here we have gathered together the best and most up to date resources on the subject for you to learn, share and enjoy!
Websites
This website hosts all the research and findings from the team conducting the most detailed studies into heat stroke in dogs in the UK.
Their blog is an easy summary of the findings of their various papers and links to the studies, infographics and helpful videos
Dr David Marlin is an equine scientist with over 30 years experience and has a particular interest in horses and thermoregulation (he has attended several olympic games with the equine teams to help keep the horses cool) and also regularly turns his attention to dogs and heat stroke, especially in the summer.
On his website you can find some great articles explaining particularly the science of fur and coats and he combats many of the myths about how long coats keep dogs cool.
They are; https://theeducatedgroomer.com/clipping-the-dog-short-for-the-summer/ and https://theeducatedgroomer.com/shaving-double-coated-breeds/
https://theeducatedgroomer.com
Mia Övernäs is a qualified Veterinary Nurse and groomer and has produced two excellent blogs on her website that take a science and evidence based deep dive into the function of a double coat in dogs, it’s growth and why many of the beliefs around the fact you must never clip double coated dogs are not true.
https://www.vettacgroup.com/publications
The Veterinary Tactical Group is an organisation caring for and researching into working military dogs, and some of whom are working in the hottest countries in the world!
So they have done some great research into caring for dogs in hot climates and heat stroke. Check them out here; https://www.vettacgroup.com/publications
Social Media
Social media has a reputation for being full of strong opinions but weak evidence. However, there are some great pages sharing the science that we can highly recommend you follow;
https://www.facebook.com/hotdogscanineheatstroke
https://www.facebook.com/DrDavidMarlin
https://www.facebook.com/VeterinaryTacticalGroup
https://www.instagram.com/dreamdogzireland/?hl=en
These are the main social media pages of the websites mentioned about
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092257509484
Canine Heat Injury Prevention & Field Treatment is a page dedicated to sharing the most up to date research and evidence on heat stroke in dogs and is well worth a follow
https://www.facebook.com/catthevet
During the warmer months, Cat shares and creates a variety of posts combatting common heat stroke myths. She produces videos as well, these can be found on this page, her Instagram and TikTok under the playlist ‘Heat Stroke Advice’
Infographics
These infographics are great summaries of the current evidence and brilliant for sharing on your clinic social media pages
https://www.rvc.ac.uk/Media/Default/VetCompass/240524%20Hot%20Dog%20infographic%20(1).pdf
https://www.rvc.ac.uk/Media/Default/VetCompass/210324%20EH%20Heat%20Stroke%20infographic.pdf
https://www.rvc.ac.uk/Media/Default/VetCompass/HOW%20TO%20COOL%20HOT%20DOGS%20(1).pdf
https://www.fecava.org/news-and-events/news/fecava-infographics-on-heatstroke
Podcasts
Both these episodes are from the podcast K9 Conservationists and are interviews with heat stroke researchers. They are fantastically insightful. If you come across any others on this subject, please let us know!
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/k9-conservationists/id1451997691?i=1000631589293
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/k9-conservationists/id1451997691?i=1000626067109
Videos
These are a great couple of videos from Emily Hall, who heads up the Heat Stroke Dogs research group
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8TzwXnjGYc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BuRp6o49_Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CwerRhmCB8
Heat Injury in Working Dogs with Dr. Janice Baker, the lead veterinarian at the Veterinary Tactical Group, who look after the military working dogs
https://attendee.gototraining.com/79tm0/recording/7747588114524157953
Papers
There is a great deal of research into heat stroke in dogs, here are some of the studies that we think are the most practical and robust. We have also included some summary articles in this list as well.
Epidemiology of heat-related illness in dogs under UK emergency veterinary care in 2022 – https://bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/vetr.4153
Post-exercise management of exertional hyperthermia in dogs participating in dog sport (canicross) events in the UK – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306456524000457?via%3Dihub
Canine heat-related illness – new perspectives from recent research – https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/full/10.12968/coan.2023.0015
A Randomized Cross-Over Study Comparing Cooling Methods for Exercise-Induced Hyperthermia in Working Dogs in Training – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10705156/
What We Really Know About Ice Water Ingestion in Dogs – https://www.vettacgroup.com/_files/ugd/51f6c2_59e27bbcad7e4979acb9e14f456b6b11.pdf
