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In this lesson, we're going to be providing you with some important knowledge of how body temperature increases and decreases work and how you should generally respond, leading up to the next two lessons on hypothermia and hyperthermia.
When you feel cold, this is simply your temperature being lower than what your brain wants it to be. Your typical response is to shiver, wrap yourself up in a blanket or put on a coat, and eventually seek a warmer environment, if at all possible.
When you feel hot, the same thing applies. Your body temperature is higher than what your brain wants it to be and you respond by sweating, becoming flushed, and eventually seeking a cooler environment.
Your pet's body temperature fluctuations work in exactly the same ways.
Pro Tip #1: It's important to remember that what your pet's actual body temperature is may not be the same as what your pet's brain wants it to be.
While that sounds like a fantastic Zen riddle, we assure you, it's not. The best example of what we mean is the seasonal flu. Your temperature could be higher than normal, and yet, your brain wants it to be higher still. And why? To combat the invading flu virus. (Brain always knows best … usually.)
So that above example is what we'd call a temperature change due to an internal factor. Those situations are in contrast to what you should do for temperature changes due to an external factor, like exercising in the heat of summer or sitting in a hot car.
Pro Tip #2: It's important to recognize the difference between an internal factor (even though the flu virus was obtained externally) and an external factor. Remember, if the brain has changed the set point due to internal factors vs. changes due to external factors, your response changes as well.
A good rule of thumb is to always go along with what your pet's brain wants your pet's temperature to be. If she wants to warm up, help her do that. And if she wants to cool off, help her do that, too. It is often really that simple.