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So it’s started to get a little warm here in Western Australia and yesterday it hit 40 degrees Celsius which is the first time this summer that it’s hit this temperature.
Today the forecast is a very warm 38 C and tomorrow (new years day) we’ll be hitting the 40’s again.
Nothing for a bloke to do really other then strip off, jump into the pool and enjoy a cold beer.
What if your a cat with a built in fur coat though?
Our cat Charlie really struggles with the hot weather. Being black doesn’t help and even the shade provided by the canopy covering our patio offers little relief.
Cats for some reason don’t quite understand the benefits of refrigerated air conditioning. In ‘Cat World’ it’s always bound to be cooler outside even though the wonders of modern air conditioning means that the difference between inside and outside temperatures could be as much as 10 – 15 degrees C.
Charlie after his brief introduction to a jug of water. I think he's plotting something
In the three years that we’ve been here we’ve tried a number of things to bring down Charlie s core body temperature during the really hot days.
As frequent visits to the vets have taught us, one of the few places where cats sweat is through their paws. They don’t have the ability to loose heat by panting like a dog or sweating like us humans do.
One thing we’ve tried was ice cubes in the water bowl. Unfortunately this approach will only work if you can convince your cat to get up from his shady corner for a drink. Yesterday this just was not going to happen and the ice cubes soon melt in this really hot weather.
What does work though is a big jug of water!
Now, I don’t mean that in the ‘chuck a jug of water over your cat’ kind of way 
What we do is simply sit down next to the cat and give him a good stoke.
The sly part is between each stroke we dip our hand in the jug of water so that over a period of time we manage to give him a good soaking.
Anyone who has attempted to bath a cat will know that getting your cat wet is often not a very wise move. For Charlie though, he was either to warm to rip us to pieces with his claws or simply couldn’t be bothered. Either way he was happy to be given some relief from the heat.
Charlie has been showing an interest in the swimming pool of late. If he decides to start taking regular dips then I’ll get the clips posted up on Youtube!
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Hi Mark, I really enjoyed reading your blog entries and it makes me want more and more to settle in Oz someday. Just waiting for that WA sponsorship to finally lodge our visa application. I am concerned though with our 3 dogs and as much as I want to take them to Oz, we may not have enough resources to do. It really is heartbreaking to plan their future, if ever we get the AU visa, so I consciously ignore it for now. Hopefully we’d be able to decide what’s best for all of us.
Hello Mary and thanks for your comments
I’m afraid that part of your issue may be fixed by the fact that in WA, In a residential area, The Council limits each household to a maximum of two dogs so all three of your pets would not be allowed.
I’m sorry this is not good news but it’s important to keep in mind.
More information here:
http://www.cityofperth.wa.gov.au/web/Living/Residents-and-Ratepayers-Information/Dog-ownership/
Best wishes
Mark
Hi Mark, I am planning to move to Sydney to live with my boyfriend this year. I am torn about taking my two cats. They are young and healthy and I can’t bear the thought of leaving them with a relative. They are really affectionate. However I want to do whats best for them not me. I am worried about the flight effect on them and more so as they are demon hunters that they will take on a poisionous spider or snake and get bitten. Or that they will go missing. I already keep them in at night here in the UK and would do that in Oz and I was looking at netting and stuff to try and control their outdoors. Do you still think it was the best decision to bring your two cats out to WA even with what happened with Jeff? Thanks for any help you can offer my troubled mind.. many thanks Melissa
Hi Melissa
Absolutely! Even though Jeff went missing (he may well be in Adelaide now for all I know) bringing both cats here was the best decision. As Charlie has started to get older he has started to slow down and there’s nothing more comforting then seeing him bask in the early morning sunshine every morning instead of worrying about him hiding under a bush from the freezing rain.
Like yours Charlie is also a demon hunter however he’s actually been much better here than he was in the UK (apart from the odd lizard). Like you, we keep him in at night though and he seems to have a healthy respect of some of the bigger spiders.
As for the flight, there’s no dramas there either. Both cats handled the trip very well. I guess at the end of the day if you bring them down under with you you’ll be giving them a good life in a beautiful country. If you left them in the UK your reliant on someone else giving them the same level of care you would. ?
All the best
Regards
Mark
Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. Am looking forward to the move (wth my two boys), cheers Melissa