Covering itself with sand to stay cool. — The Straits Times/ANN
CHARLIE has been reluctant to take long walks at East Coast Park since April, when the weather turned hotter and more humid.
When the cavalier King Charles spaniel reaches an underpass at Marine Parade to the beach, she tugs at her leash to head home or take a shorter walk around the Marine Crescent estate, said her owner Irene Kamphuis, 43.
“In the worst-case scenario, she refuse to walk, and I have to carry her for a bit.
“And when we get to a cooler area with cold tiles or air-con, she will lie belly-down, stretched out on the floor,” added Kamphuis, a regional payroll manager
Like Charlie, Vincent Sim’s 15 pet rabbits have been feeling the heat too. Since late March, they no longer enjoy bounding about on the terrace of his Housing Board maisonette penthouse.
“They will return to the living room within a few minutes. They used to roam outside for hours. They lie in front of the fan now, which they used to stay away from because it was noisy,” said the 49-year-old sales manager.
While heat stress is a threat to people, pets are also as vulnerable since animals have limited sweat glands to help them cool down, said Dr Teo Boon Han, managing partner and veterinary consultant at VetTrust Singapore.
“Dogs rely primarily on panting or sweating through their paws to release heat,” added Dr Teo.
Rise in heat-related health issues during the hotter months
In April, a 10-year-old chow chow collapsed and was rushed to the Animal and Avian Veterinary Clinic (AAVC). The dog was heating up, disoriented, and his gums had turned blue – key signs of heat stroke.
Ten minutes later, the dog died. The dog was also obese, which added to complications.
The clinic’s previous two heat stroke cases, in March and October 2022, were saved in time with intravenous fluids, oxygen therapy and ice packs, said its founder and vet Kenneth Tong.
In addition to a heat stroke cases, vet clinics report an uptick in heat-related conditions, such as flare-ups of skin allergies or inflamed sores, and ringworm.
Since April, AAVC has been seeing at least three animal patients with skin rashes or eczema daily.
Since February, Dr Lee Yan Hui from Brighton Vet Care (Katong) has been seeing more patients with ringworm infections.
Dr Brian Loon, principal veterinarian at Amber Vet Group, said his clinic sees a 15% to 30% rise in heat-related skin issues during the hotter months.
Parasites such as ticks, fleas, fur mites and heartworm are everywhere in the environment and are drawn to pets through body heat and when animals breathe out carbon dioxide when panting more, noted Dr Tan Do Yew, regional technical manager for companion animals at Boehringer Ingelheim, a multinational animal health company.
Singapore entered the warmer period when the north-east monsoon fizzled out by late March. On Saturday, the temperature spiked to 37ºC in Ang Mo Kio, the highest recorded in Singapore since 1983.
The mercury might keep soaring if the El Nino weather phenomenon arrives in the second half of the year. El Nino brings hotter and drier conditions to South-East Asia and Australia.
If El Nino sets in, temperatures between June and October are likely to soar higher than the seasonal norm with less rainfall and cloud cover, noted weather and climate scientist Koh Tieh Yong from the Singapore University of Social Sciences.
After long walks or when Charlie is panting more than usual, Kamphuis would give her homemade goat milk popsicles to cool her down. — The Straits Times/ANN
