Office of Aerospace Medicine Technical Reports
FAA Office of Aerospace Medicine
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-77/8
Title and Subtitle: A study of effects of hyperthermia on large, short-haired male dogs: A simulated air transport environmental stress
Report Date: March 1977
Authors: Hanneman GD, Higgins EA, Price GT, Funkhouser GE, Grape PM, Snyder L
Abstract: When dogs are shipped by air transport, they can encounter environmental temperatures as high as 130.0 F during the summer months. Heat- induced hyperthermia can be a major problem in dogs.
To assess some aspects of the heat stress problem, 20 dogs were exposed to an ambient temperature of 130.0 F for 30 minutes--10 dogs at 15% relative humidity and 10 at 35% relative humidity. Transient and permanent changes were seen; however, no dogs died from exposure. All dogs exhibited increases in heart rate, rectal temperature, blood pH, hemoglobin, packed cell volume, and red blood cell count while body weight and blood carbon dioxide decreased.
There were also differences between the two groups for blood pH, blood carbon dioxide, rectal temperature, and weight loss. The major histological tissue changes attributed to hyperthermia were fragmentation of the myocardium, acute cortical necrosis in the kidneys, and marked degenerative changes in the cerebellum and cerebral cortex that were considered severe and permanent.
Key Words: Hyperthermia, Environmental Stress, Dogs, Transportation, Histopathology, Blood chemistry, Humidity
No. of Pages: 10
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute
Report No: DOT/FAA/AM-77/8
Title and Subtitle: A study of effects of hyperthermia on large, short-haired male dogs: A simulated air transport environmental stress
Report Date: March 1977
Authors: Hanneman GD, Higgins EA, Price GT, Funkhouser GE, Grape PM, Snyder L
Abstract: When dogs are shipped by air transport, they can encounter environmental temperatures as high as 130.0 F during the summer months. Heat- induced hyperthermia can be a major problem in dogs.
To assess some aspects of the heat stress problem, 20 dogs were exposed to an ambient temperature of 130.0 F for 30 minutes--10 dogs at 15% relative humidity and 10 at 35% relative humidity. Transient and permanent changes were seen; however, no dogs died from exposure. All dogs exhibited increases in heart rate, rectal temperature, blood pH, hemoglobin, packed cell volume, and red blood cell count while body weight and blood carbon dioxide decreased.
There were also differences between the two groups for blood pH, blood carbon dioxide, rectal temperature, and weight loss. The major histological tissue changes attributed to hyperthermia were fragmentation of the myocardium, acute cortical necrosis in the kidneys, and marked degenerative changes in the cerebellum and cerebral cortex that were considered severe and permanent.
Key Words: Hyperthermia, Environmental Stress, Dogs, Transportation, Histopathology, Blood chemistry, Humidity
No. of Pages: 10
Last updated: Friday, June 1, 2012