How to Create a Cooling Pad for Animals

During the hot summer months, its important to keep your dogs and cats cool. It's not just a matter of comfort for household pets, but one of health and safety. Because animals have fur and don't sweat, they cool off differently than people do. According to the Cozy Winters website, a cooling bed can help "protect your pet from overheating, heat exhaustion and heatstroke." Supplying them with a cooling pad is a cheap and effective way to help them stay safe when it's hot out.

Find an old sleeping bag with the outside made of nylon or polyester. Anything that's soft and typically cool to the touch will work.

Decide how big you'd like your cooling pad to be. You should be able to estimate an appropriate size for your pet. Cut the sleeping bag in half width-wise, using a pair of scissors.

Cut a piece of aluminum foil big enough to slide inside the exposed portion of the sleeping bag, and wrap two ice packs within. Wrap the ice packs into the two diagonal corners of the foil. Use tape to secure them, if necessary.

Slide the foil and ice packs together into the open side of the sleeping bag. Make sure the foil and ice packs are touching the underside of the nylon/polyester.

Tape up the open end of the sleeping bag. Lay it out on the floor, and get your pet to lay on it.

When it warms up, wrap up the pad and place it in the freezer or refrigerator for half an hour. Alternately, you could remove the ice packs and just refreeze them.