Ask Wirecutter: How Do I Keep My Pets Cool, Happy, and Safe This Summer?

Dear Wirecutter,

I foster cats/kittens and have 1 resident cat, named Tomato. Should I keep the AC on for them when I leave my apartment? I know they have a higher body temperature than us humans, but particularly on the extra hot days, it feels cruel to leave them in my studio apartment without a little aircon. Is this true?

M.K.B.

Hello, M.K.B.,

You might think you’re doing your cats a favor by cranking the AC, but be careful about what temp you’re setting it to.

“We know that cats like warmth,” Mikel Delgado, a certified applied animal behaviorist and certified cat-behavior consultant, told Mel during research for our guide to cat beds. “And that’s partly because cats have a thermo-neutral zone, which is the temperature range at which their bodies are not exerting a lot of energy trying to either cool off or warm up.”

Check the temperature of the room. In general, for your cat’s maximum comfort, you want to avoid temps in the low 60s as well as high temperatures, around 90 degrees Fahrenheit and above, advises Carlo Siracusa, a veterinary behavior specialist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Cats can adapt to temperatures, but you want to avoid big disparities. “Their short-term adaptability depends on the regular temperature at which the house is kept,” Siracusa told me in an email. “For example, if the owners are home [and] the temperature is around 72, without AC it can quickly jump to 85; then the cat may feel uncomfortable at the highest temperature, which would probably be tolerated if the cat’s body had time to adjust.”

Some cats — including young kittens or those who are infirm — might have trouble regulating their temperature. Because of their airway issues, flat-faced breeds like Persians and Himalayans might struggle with this too. You also want to look for spaces where the animal can cool down. Does your home have a nice, chilly tile floor?

If you have a dog in the mix, it’s better to keep the house consistently below 80 degrees Fahrenheit, and set it even lower if the dog is a flat-facer (like English or French bulldogs), a Nordic breed that runs hot, or a severely obese dog. Dogs’ comfort temperature is a few degrees lower than that of cats. And, as with cats, with dogs that temperature varies by an animal’s breed, age, and acclimation.

So, yeah, maintain the AC to keep your pets comfortable, especially since our HVAC journalist recommends that you keep it running when you leave the house. “As it turns out, the most efficient way to keep your home cool and the bills low is to leave the AC running — ideally, with the temperature turned up toward the upper 70s,” Thom Dunn wrote in an article on the subject.

Go ahead and keep that AC set to a moderate temperature. I’m sure Tomato will thank you by being aloof slightly less frequently than usual.

This article was edited by Catherine Kast and Maxine Builder.