Panting and hyperthermia: Paris vet sees uptick in pets being admitted due to extreme heat

Published on 26/06/2026 - 15:39 GMT+2

For several days now, Cléo has been panting, drinking very little and getting agitated. Symptoms that might seem harmless, but in the middle of a heatwave it is a race against time to prevent heatstroke that could be fatal for this overweight young cat.

Called out as an emergency to her flat in the Paris region, vet Rodolphe Lesauvage takes her temperature and puts her on a drip to rehydrate her quickly.

"If we hadn’t intervened and hadn’t explained to the owner what preventative steps were needed for this type of cat, it’s highly likely that over the next 24 hours her temperature would have kept rising, her breathing would have become more and more laboured and complications would have set in," explains Rodolphe Lesauvage.

Since the start of this record-breaking heatwave in France, vets have been seeing more and more cats that are unused to the extreme temperatures.

Emergency call-outs to dog owners are also becoming more frequent. In another household, Goldy, a 16-year-old cocker spaniel, also needs a catheter to be rehydrated. Despite this care, the prognosis is grim, so the vet decides to admit him.

"On examination I noted a slight hyperthermia, most likely linked to the heat. I also noticed severe anaemia, which was confirmed by a blood test showing very marked anaemia and very intense abdominal pain. All this leads me to think that we are probably dealing either with a tumour causing major internal bleeding in the abdomen, or with multi-organ failure due to yesterday’s heatstroke," notes Rodolphe Lesauvage.

The situation is so acute that some animals die before they can even be seen by a vet. Puppies and kittens, as well as obese or elderly animals, are particularly vulnerable.

Since mid-June, the 3,115 emergency veterinary hotline has recorded an increase of almost 10 per cent in mortality among animals treated as emergencies, compared with the same period last year.