Tips for Winter Safety Follow these guidelines to protect your pets in cold weather: Keep pets indoors as much as possible in cold weather. When they go out, stay with them. When you’re cold enough to go in, your pet is probably ready to return inside too. Make sure that your pet always has fresh, non-frozen drinking water. Animals who don’t have clean accessible water will turn to gutters and puddles when they can drink deadly antifreeze, oil and other chemicals. Your pet’s health can also affect how long it can stay outdoors. Conditions like diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, and hormonal imbalances can compromise a pet’s ability to regulate their own body heat. Very young and old animals are especially vulnerable to the cold. The cold can be especially hard on the joints of older animals that become stiff and tender. Stay directly behind older pets when they are climbing stairs. Stiff and arthritic pets can experience significant injury if they slip on ice, so beware of conditions when you walk them. If you live near a pond or lake, be especially careful of ice. Animals can easily fall through the ice and it is difficult for them to escape on their own. Keep your pet on a leash and stay with them when outdoors. Pets who go outdoors can pick up rock salt, ice, and chemical ice melts in their foot pads. Keep your pet’s pads from getting chapped and raw by wiping their feet with a washcloth when they come inside. Beware of your pet becoming trapped. Animals left outdoors can be very resourceful in trying to find shelter. They dig into snow banks and dive under porches, into window wells, and cellars where they can become trapped. Always provide warm, accessible shelter and watch them closely. Check under your car hood, honk, or rap on the hood before you start your car or truck engine. A cold cat will curl up against almost anything–including engines–to stay warm. -Aley
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 17:30:06 +0000
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