How do you keep your pets cool?

[enchancea]

With the really high temps lately Im just curious how everyone keeps their pets cool.
For my rats I refill their water bottles about 3 times a day with cold water, give them popscicles, put small bowls with ice cubes in their cages (they love to play in them) and sometimes I give them ice cream (as you can see from Mocha's face in the pics). And sometimes I spray them down with a water bottle.
I just refill my hamster water bottles a couple of times day. I find I cant even turn on Lola's (my gecko) heating stuff on because it gets to be over 100 in her cage. Without any heating stuff on its anywhere from 85-90. For the newts I just put a cup of cold water in their tank everyday. And lastly for my dog I make sure she always has cold water with ice cubes in it and when I take her outside I tie a cold wet bandana around her neck.

[winterrosewaitin]

I have dogs, birds, and a kitten. The "dog" room where the crates are has a window air conditioner so they stay pretty cool. I have so many dogs, they all can't run loose in the house at the same time, they have to take turns. So the ones who are running loose tend to jump on my bed and sleep, I have an air conditioner in there too. The Birds I mist several times a day, but they handle heat pretty well. I have a fan in there just to keep the air moving. The kitten likes either my bed, or the tub, because that is cool. Of cource everyone gets plenty of water with ice cubes in it.
When Hubby is home, he takes the dogs for a swim in the lake right out front, they love it.

[Raven Reed]

My dog is old and incontinent. She has to be an outdoor dog. Now that the heat is over 100, we take extra care to keep her cool. She has her own kiddie wading pool and we go out and "water" her about every two hours. This did the trick last year and seems to be doing it again this year. Plus she has plenty of shade and has a hidey hole that she keeps to during the worst of the heat.

[Catiana]

Central Air Conditioning. Both of my kitties are indoor kitties so we leave the air running at 75 for them even when we're not home.

[*Rain*]

My puppy has his own spot in the garden where it is naturally cool and shaded. I also put up parasols etc to give him more shade. I make sure his water is kept somewhere cool and make sure he has plenty of it. When he's indoors I have a fan that I plug in next to where he lies down. He likes him ice cubes too and we also freeze chicken soup for him (he's still teething) so it covers both bases. I also make sure that he only goes for walks in the early morning or late evening. He had sunstroke a few weeks ago from a very short (unavoidable) mid afternoon walk, it wasn't fun seeing him that sick.

[Athena-Nadine]

Central Air Conditioning. Both of my kitties are indoor kitties so we leave the air running at 75 for them even when we're not home.

Us too.

[BlackMagicalCat]

I dipped my kitty in the bath tub,she didnt like it,but I gave her a bath

[Odilla]

you can try a "bean bag" type thing...

get some beans (rats usually shouldn't have raw beans, so keep an eye on this), or some peas might work (and you know rats and peas)... put them in a bag (Cloth if you have it), and let them lounge.

the ice in a bowl is good.. you could also do some shallow water with peas in it, make it a game.

if they like to swim, you could give them a cool bath.

I have a/c, so I don't really have to worry about my girls. :-)

[PoisonIvy]

I have an inside dog.(Please don't tell her that I called her a dog cause she thinks she's the baby!) :lol: So I suppose my answer would be central air. We make sure she has lots of water and one of her favorite treats is "the icecube". A lot of times we put ice in her water. It looks like she's bobbing for apples! I love to watch her blow bubbles in the water when she goes after the ice! :lol:

[KimberSly]

We live in a basement suite so it stays pretty cool :)

[Arinya]

I have the same problem with my ferret.
We have to air conditoning and we can only open 3 out of 20 windows in our house!! Ergh, we have tons of fans going though so at least we try to keep a breeze going.
I've been filling up bottles of water and freezing them for him to sleep with to stay cool, giving him a mini-pool to play in, and letting him shower with me to keep him cool.

[semi]

I keep my cats cool by making them wear little black leather jackets and shades. Then they look very cool.

Oh, you're talking about the temperature. Never mind. Well, I have fish and snakes who don't seem to be aware of the heat so they get regular every-day care and my cats just find cool places to lay. They know what they're doing and I don't bother them, just let them lay wherever they want and nap. And I make sure that they have fresh cold water.

When I had a dog the ice cube in the water dish always worked well and ice cubes were always appreciated as treats. And don't exert a dog too much, especially a thickly furred type of dog.

[ravenmyst]

I trim the dogs down some, (longhaired chihuahuas) their outdoor pen is shaded most of the day, and they love ice, they dont do much, so they dont overheat. the cats sleep in the basement during the day so they are primed and ready for 3am pets, grrr, dont have any other animals right now

[Old Witch]

Air Conditioning

[wakywitch]

The birds are in the basement away from drafts.
I keep their cage hung from the ceiling away from the cats.
Put ice cubes in the cats water dishes, they usually stay in the basement where its cool.
When its really humid and hot here in New England, I keep my windows shut and the shades pulled down.

[enchancea]

I have air conditioning and fans and doesnt seem to do very much when its 120 outside. And pulling the shades and keeping curtains shut seems to help alot.