NICOLE Wallace teaches staff at the Edinburgh Dog and Cat home first aid for their furry residents – and reveals one of the biggest killers is heat stroke.

The training officer at the 143-year-old charity advises on the danger signs to watch out for with a warning that they can quickly become fatal.

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Our dogs will really feel the heat in this weather.

Nicole Wallace teaches animal first aid at Edinburgh’s Dog and Cat Home.

It comes as experts say there is no “safe” temperature for walks, as it depends on your dog’s breed, age, health and temperament.

Nicole said: “We do first aid courses for cats and dogs on how to deal heat stroke and sun damage.

“The reason for that is heat stroke is really dangerous because it means that the dog has now gone into a stage where they can no longer thermoregulate – they can’t cool themselves down on their own.

“So you would be looking for bright red gums, they would be excessively panting, wobbly on their feet, nauseous and they would be kind of damp to the touch.

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“At that stage their organs can actually start to fully shut down and fail.

“The main thing you need to do in that kind of instance is get them out of the heat source ASAP, then cool them down as quickly as possible.

“So run them under a cold tap or a shower, give cold water to drink, put a fan on – anything to get their temperature down.

“Once you’ve done that you then need to take them straight to the vet because they are in danger of going into shock, and, if you left it, they could die from it.”

Nicole points out that the unseasonable weather Scots have been basking in all week is when your dog is most vulnerable.

She explains: “We start to see random heat strokes across Scotland in weather like this simply because our pets are not used to it.

“So people just want to get out and about in it and go for walks up Arthur’s Seat and maybe go for runs too and stuff that they would usually do, but in these temperatures the pets just can’t handle it. Even a fit and active healthy dog can get heat stroke if you exercise them too much.

“But for an elderly or obese dog, or one that struggles to breathe, they literally just need to be sitting in the sun doing nothing to get a heat stroke.”

Another danger for dogs is their paws peeling from the hot surfaces. One useful tip is the pavement test – if you can’t comfortably hold your hand on the ground for five seconds then it’s too hot for your dog’s paws.

That’s because on a day that reaches 25c, tarmac can heat from 52c to 62c, and artificial grass has been branded the worst offender with researchers measuring it reaching highs 65c in peak summer sun.

However Nicole says cats are less likely to get heat stroke because of their ancestry to African wild cats, which means they can cope with the conditions.

But she adds: “Cats can get into difficulty when they get trapped in somewhere like a greenhouse or a shed or a conservatory.

“You’ve just got to make sure you check these places on a hot day or leave the doors open to make sure they can get out.”

But cats are susceptible to sunburn, which can lead to an aggressive form of skin cancer.

Nicola says: “Because many cats roam free they are prone to getting a special form of cancer, which affects the pink on their noses and the tips of their ears.

“It kind of looks like black crusts, but when you flake them off, they don’t heal properly. And that can progress really, really quickly. So it’s really, really important that if that happens, that you get them seen by a vet.”

The PDSA has advised using special animal sun block, with an SPF rating of 30 or higher. Some brands even sell sunscreen with a bitter taste to stop animals licking it off.

But Nicole says we shouldn’t feel guilty about keeping our pets safe in doors for a few days as forecasters  predict more hot weather to come.

She says: “Sure they might be a bit bored in the house for a couple of days but there’s loads of stuff at home that you can do to keep their mind active.

“Because when it’s super hot, there is a greater risk of your dog dying from heat stroke if you take them out rather than keeping them in.”

*For more information on the Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home visit: edch.org.uk