The heat here is really making me sick!! Not kidding!

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

OMG, same problem here....! In France, it was more bearable, because we were along the coast of Bretagne, so the temperatures were at least 7° lower!
Here, in Belgium, it is terrible! Though we water the garden 2 times per day (our son did it while we were gone), lots of the plants are suffering or dying... . Bernard is praying desperately for rain......!!
As my health isn't really good either, it is very hard to survive this weather! I am drink tons of cold water, have lots of showers. My head is overheated too, and I am having problems with breating too.
Oh please God, send us some cool showers asap.
My mom, 83 and MS-patient, is suffering terribly....

[GreyhoundGirl]

I was listening to the radio the other day and it was annonced.... 40 people have died from heat in france. ( in the past week or something like that... )

Pet Talkers in France, Keep your cool... We Can't Lose You !!!!! PTers are too special to lose.

[Kirsten]

Thanks everyone for all the advices how to survive in this heat. I'm already doing most of the things recommended, but still, I'm feeling like a zombie, and I'm just not myself. Maybe I should consider getting such a cooling vest sooner or later, if our summers continue to be like this!

Sonia, I really envy you for the AC in your office. Ours has 97°F (36°C)!!!

Lut, I'm with you, and your mom. What you describe is exactly how I feel, too. Yes, I think it has a lot to do with the fact of not being healthy. Also, my plants here are are dying, too, and the lawns outside are brown, not green. And the first river in Germany has dried yesterday.

GreyhoundGirl, yes, it's true, 40 people have died in France so far, including one baby. And more people have died in Spain, the Netherlands and Germany from the heat.

Kirsten

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Prayers still on the way here for you all!

We had a brief shower this morning which was desperately needed but now it's so steamy it's hard to breathe even with ac.

At least the days are getting shorter now, so that's less time for the sun to beat down on everyone.

(((HUGS TO ALL)))

[wolflady]

Gosh, it seems like this heat wave is global! Bless your heart, I get those same symptoms when it's really hot as well. I was jokingly asking a friend of mine the other day if it's possible to be allergic to the heat/sun, because it makes me nausiated, brings on horrible headaches, causes my bp to go down, etc...and she actually told me that it is possible. How strange is that?

I'm just glad we have a/c here at work, because I don't have it at home and I've been so miserable. We were topping 110 and 119 F last week, and today I think we're down to 101. Ugh...I hope this heat wave ceases for everyone...and soon!

**hugs**

[NoahsMommy]

Yes, I think it has a lot to do with the fact of not being healthy.

You know, I think this is very true! With this heat, I've felt so much worse...as has my good friend CiCi, who suffers from fibromyalsia.

Not only does the heat make me feel ill, but irritable as well! I felt so badly on Monday when I took Tonya (Zippykat) and Staci (Shais_mom) to an outdoor mall....I was soooo crabby when we were walking from store to store! I just felt ill and soooooo uncomfortable. Ick, I hate this weather!!

Our high for today way 92 with a TON of humidity. Ick, I feel like I need to just live in the cold shower until winter comes - California is blessed with something called Indian Summers, which means September/October are SUPER hot as well. Ugh, I'm SOO not looking forward to then.

Where I live right now does not have A/C either. When I was at Gini's this weekend for the BBQ, I received a call from CiCi tellilng me that Noah was overheating. I was soooo worried. She got him a lot of ice to lean against and cooled him down, but it was scary.

As far as work goes, I'm lucky to work in a hospital - where its imperative that we have A/C. Unfortunately, our A/C seems to "die" at 11:00 and we have to call and complain, without help, I've been calling sinse April!! So we, and our patients get to sit in a steamy hot office...its just so lovely. Ugh.

I hope you get to feeling better soon, Kristen! The heat makes it just so much more worse.

Hugs, Kelly

[CountryWolf07]

I'm from Ohio - but last week, I've been having panic attacks/breathing problems because of the darn humidity and the oxygen in the air, like it wasn't enough of it, it was very strange.

[Kirsten]

Wolflady and Kelly, you sound as miserable as I feel!

We had a brief shower this morning which was desperately needed but now it's so steamy it's hard to breathe even with ac.

momoffuzzyfaces, that sounds just awful!! We also had some real bad thundersturms in some parts of Germany last night (with a lot of damage), but not in my area.

I was jokingly asking a friend of mine the other day if it's possible to be allergic to the heat/sun, because it makes me nausiated, brings on horrible headaches, causes my bp to go down, etc...and she actually told me that it is possible. How strange is that?

Wow, this is interesting! I actually googled for heat/sun allergy a while ago, because I was wondering the same, but I didn't find anything. And yet, heat and sun is really making me ill.


Kelly, that is scary about Noah!!! Poor boy!!! Oh, and did you read about little Peggy in Cat General? She actually had a heat stroke last week! The silly girl slept on the attic, the hottest spot in the house, and my mother found her lethargic and unresponsive. She cooled her with water, which made her feel better.

Kirsten

[Kirsten]

I'm from Ohio - but last week, I've been having panic attacks/breathing problems because of the darn humidity and the oxygen in the air, like it wasn't enough of it, it was very strange.

Just saw your post. Same here, the brain doesn't work because of the lack of oxygen, and you feel like you're going to suffocate. I'm fighting down these panic attacks for many weeks now - sometimes not even successfully.

Kirsten

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

How exactly do you cool down an overheated cat? What is the best way? Maya seems to be suffering the most, poor girl

[Sonia59]

I was listening to the radio the other day and it was annonced.... 40 people have died from heat in france. ( in the past week or something like that... )

Pet Talkers in France, Keep your cool... We Can't Lose You !!!!! PTers are too special to lose.

OK, just to joke a bit, I think I am the only French PTer, so if ever I disappear...it will be only one less!

More seriously, yes, this is true, up to now ~40 people died; mainly very old people or people living in the streets. I think they are talking a lot about them because we had a very-very hot summer in 2003 (from what I remember it was worse than this one because longer and temperatures were around 40 degrees), and it was the hotest ever. Nobody was prepared, not only in France but all over Europe, and many old people living alone at home died without anybody noticing it for days or weeks! And in 2003, there were many more than 40 deaths.

I think I live in one of the coldest areas in France (together with north of Bretagne), in the very North and not far from the sea. My house is located in a very windy and rainy corridor. Usually the temperatures in summer hardly reach 22 degrees but now it is the same everywhere. It is even worse here because of humidity. But still, compared to other areas, we are OK, especially because it really cools down during the night. I am lucky that my kitties are OK with the tiles we have on the ground floor of the house and all the blinds closed during the day, we can keep 25-27 degrees maximum. Kirsten, I wish you would live closer and you could drop your kitties here for cool holidays!!! Noah and other candidates could come too, no problem!

[krazyaboutkatz]

How exactly do you cool down an overheated cat? What is the best way? Maya seems to be suffering the most, poor girl

Lut, You can add some ice to their water bowls, wet them down with a cold washcloth, or mist them if they'll tolerate it. Last weekend many animals died or have come close to dying in Northern California and they said that if you have to bring your animal to the ER because they're suffering from the heat then you should put lukewarm water on them first and this will help to stabilize their body temperature. I hope that I'll never have to go through this with any of my cats. I've been keeping the ceiling and floor fan on nonstop and opening up the windows and sliding glass door when it's cooled down enough. Lucklily things are finally starting to cool down here.

[Kirsten]

Sonia, I remember that incredibly high death rate in France during the summer of 2003. About 15000 people have died in 2003.

I remember the summer of 2003, like this one, it was a long and very hot summer, but more bearable as it wasn't so humid, at least here in Germany.


Lut, to keep my cats cool, I'm stroking them with a wet washcloth. They really enjoy it!

Kirsten

[Lizzie]

I wouldn't use cold water cloths on a cat, not right away, more like tepid - which will cool on their fur/skin. I suggest this because when I was a children's nurse in the 60's (they've probably got more hi-tech ways of helping now), we used to bathe children who were having seizures from high temperatures in tepid water, not cold because it's too great a shock to the system. It's the same with frostbite, you use warmish tepid first.

It's cooled down into the high 70's, low 80's here in the Seattle area which is a great relief. Sitting out on the deck at about 7pm, when the sun is behind the fir trees, is just wonderful now - that aspect of summer I can truly enjoy. It's also wonderful to see the kittens racing around madly all the time instead of just in the very early morning.

Do they still use heavy wooden shutters in Europe, or have they disappeared except on older buildings? I remember that when I lived in Greece they were wonderful for keeping out the hot sun. Since I only have blinds and drapes on the south-west side of my house, I haul sheets of plywood over the deck door windows every morning to block out the heat, and it works well.

[NoahsMommy]

Kristen,

I hadn't seen Peggy's thread, but I'll go look. Poor Sweet Peggy!!

Luckily, CiCi was home and she brought him lots of ice and water. She put more fans in my room and let him roam the house so he could cool down a bit. I'm SOOOOOOO lucky she was there, if he was alone??? I don't even want to think about it.

I hope its getting better for you, sweetie. Its horrible being this hot.

We finally got A/C help at work!! They installed TWO HUGE window A/C units that'll cover TWICE the space we have...thank goodness!!! Its going to be sooooo cold when I get in tomorrow morning and I'm soooo Happy!!!

Hope you're cooler and feeling better.

Hugs, Kelly