Excessive heat and humidity forced the temperatures toward 100 degrees and the heat index to 115 last week, significantly increasing the risk of heat-related illness.

It is no different for animals.

After the National Weather Service in Cleveland issued an excessive heat warning during most of the Ottawa County Fair, keeping animals cool became a priority.

The prolonged oppressive weather resulted in Junior Fair competitors having to keep an eye on their four-legged contestants. It was a common sight to see anyone with animals, including harness racing trainers, showering their animals with a hose on a regular basis to keep them cool.

Cecil-Bobby Harris and Rae Lynn Abdo of the Cinch & Saddle Club with Abdo's lamb, Violet. (Photo courtesy of Youth Press Corp.)

“The whole day they will be in there spraying pigs down, too,” said Debi Heiks, Junior Fair coordinator, explaining that pigs don’t sweat.

“Hogs are probably the most at risk with the hot weather, so they’ve been very good about being sure that all the hogs are sprayed down. Even with all this heat, I’m telling you, this has been a very good year for our shows,” Heiks continued.

For many animals, like horses, they become stressed real quick leading to even more health-related issues.

“I think animals are out there in a strange environment, which is a little bit stressful, and then with the air movement and stuff it is even more stressful,” said Dr. Michael R. Stone, Oak Harbor Veterinary Hospital.

“Each species has their own method of dissipating heat and as long as you accommodate that. Some animals don’t sweat and so putting a fan on them helps. It just depends on how they dissipate heat — some do it through their tongues, through their mouth, some through their ears, through sweating. That’s our major job just to make sure we are helping the animal dissipate its heat the way it normally would,” Dr. Stone continued.

“The other thing we are worried about with horses is as they increase in the amount of sweating, they have to drink more. There are other complications. Some of these animals are drinking water that they are not used to. That is city water out there versus well water. If the animal isn’t drinking the amount of water they are sweating, then we get concerned about impactions that can kind of complicate things, too.”

Preventive medicine
Dr. Stone remained on call throughout the fair. If an animal suffers from a heat-related illness, he is on the scene.

“The main thing we are watching is core body temperatures, and if they get up there around 104 or 105 degrees, you want to just gradually start to bring their temperature down. The easiest way is probably with water and a fan. You don’t want to do it too quickly, like with ice water, because you can send them into shock. You just want a gradual drop,” Dr. Stone said.

“You’ve just got to get to them before that critical temperature. If they get up into 107 or so, there’s a cascade of events and enzymes that are denatured that makes it a terminal event. The precaution is to get them early before they start to get up too high. Honestly, I think trying to teach people that thermometers are not such a bad thing — to take a temp and see where they are at would give a good indication of what is going on.”

A lot of it is prevention, Dr. Stone said. The Ottawa County Horse Foundation donated a wash rack that is getting plenty of use in recent years.

“They took in donations and they had that built. It’s gorgeous,” Heiks said. “It’s back by the horses and you’ll see them spraying the horses back there and the beef are getting sprayed. There are two sides to it, so a lot of times you see the beef on the one side and the horses on the other side. It’s kind of nice.

“We stress water more than anything here. We have barn superintendents and they have assistants in every barn here with livestock. They make sure that the kids are taking care of their animals. The kids are actually pretty good about it. They want to keep them healthy and you want to walk them through looking good,” Heiks continued.

“That’s not the only reason. You want to treat them well, of course, but they’re not done just because the auction is over. They still have to walk them through. They are very, very good about watching all the barns and making sure they actually have water. It is the No. 1 most important thing we do with our animals out there.”

Although on call, Dr. Stone spends as much time as he can every day at the fairgrounds.

“He comes out. He checked a couple animals the last couple days and they’ve done OK, and he keeps an eye on them,” Heiks said the day after the fair began. “He’s very good about coming when we call him and he’s our fair vet.”

Dr. Stone said, “(It is) mainly monitoring, going to the barns, and detecting to see if maybe there are some animals that aren’t getting the amount of wind and water. A lot of it is being done by the 4-H advisors in each barn. They are good people. These people that are taking animals out there, they want the best for them and they are very competitive so their animals are getting the best of care, usually. Everything has been going very smoothly.”

Even the smaller animals have to be watched, Heiks said.

“What they do for rabbits are they take water bottles and freeze them,” Heiks said. “We’ve got a cooler where they can get water bottles out and they put that on rabbits — just put that right on top of them so they make sure they are comfortable. And, they make sure their water is filled all day long. So as long as they are hydrated and they stay on their little ice bottles, it keeps them pretty good.”

It’s not just animals that are in danger when the temperature is 90 degrees or higher every day of the fair.

“It’s no joke,” Dr. Stone said. “A lot of times when those kids are showing and sweating, they get so focused on their animals and focused on the competition that they forget that they need to drink and stuff. They can get themselves in trouble just as quickly as the animals can.”

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