To help cats in the heat, you should firstly ensure that they drink enough water and secondly cool them down. To ensure that your cat drinks enough, you should offer it wet food and fresh water at various places in the home. Moving water in the form of a drinking fountain, ice cubes in the bowl and tasty alternatives such as unsalted broth, tuna water or special cat drinks make drinking more attractive. To keep your cat's body cool, you can lay out damp towels, make wet wraps, spray it with water and brush its fur daily to remove excess hair. Make sure that your home is as cool as possible and that your cat has access to cold rooms such as the bathroom or cellar to retreat to.

Cats usually behave sluggishly and listlessly when it is very hot. As they only have a few sweat glands, they find it difficult to regulate their body temperature. To cool down, they look for a shady and cool spot if possible and spend a lot of time grooming their fur. Licking their fur creates moisture, which evaporates in the heat and cools the body. As the heat affects digestion and your cat is less active, it will also eat less than usual. If the heat is too high and the animal does not drink enough fluids, there is a risk of heatstroke or dehydration in the worst case, which can manifest itself in restless behaviour, trembling, cramps and apathy. You should therefore keep a close eye on your cat in high temperatures, make sure it drinks enough fluids and provide it with a cool place to rest at all times.

In addition to the unusually high body temperature, fever in cats also manifests itself in other accompanying symptoms. A temperature of 39.2 degrees Celsius or more is a fever - you can measure the temperature rectally with a digital thermometer or at the vet. Your cat may also be listless, tired, lacking in appetite and unusually thirsty, as well as behaving conspicuously aggressively or withdrawing. Gastrointestinal complaints such as vomiting and diarrhoea, stiff muscles and joints, severe trembling and a dry nose and dry faeces also indicate a fever. If your velvet paw is breathing faster than usual, i.e. more than 40 breaths per minute, and panting, this is also a warning sign of fever. Be alert and take your cat to the vet if the fever does not go away and worrying symptoms are added.

High fevers in particular can be very dangerous for cats: A cat has a fever from a temperature of 39.2 degrees Celsius. Fever becomes a real emergency when the body temperature rises above 41 degrees Celsius. Fever is also particularly dangerous for old and sick cats and kittens, as their immune system is already weakened. The main danger of fever is the threat of dehydration: the increased body temperature means that the animals need more fluids. However, they are often so weakened that they refuse to eat or drink. Therefore, make sure that your cat continues to drink enough and, in an emergency, administer liquid directly into its mouth using a syringe or pipette. If the fever is very high, lasts longer than a day or is accompanied by severe symptoms, you should definitely consult a vet. They can help to reduce the fever and treat the cause of the fever.