Coping Strategies

The hot spell has continued all week and I like to think I'm coping pretty well.  Okay, so I've only got short fur, but there's a soft under layer covered by a rough working coat so it's double, in effect.  'Her Indoors' attempted to ease the situation by giving me a good brushing, which made me look like a potential Crufts contender and helped a bit, but it reached 36 degrees in the back garden last week, which is hot by any standards.  I went outside last thing at night, as I usually do for my ablutions, and indulged in my regular back scratching on the rough concrete path.  This was so pleasant, with the cool air wafting around my under carriage, that I just lay there, on my back with my paws in the air, contemplating the night sky.  'Her Indoors' was a bit concerned initially, but when she saw it wasn't rigour mortis and I was still breathing, she tried to cox me inside.  Nothing doing.  She must have been hot too because she ended up sitting next to me and we spent a pleasant ten minutes cooling off together.  Unfortunately, 'Her Indoors' is a bit prone to insect bites, and she paid a heavy price.  She's looking frankly rather blotchy and doing a lot of moaning.  Perhaps she should try dabbing some of my Frontline on the back of her neck and between her shoulder blades; it works for me.