Keep your pets warm this winter

Published 10:24 pm Sunday, December 7, 2014

Your dog or cat may have a thick coat of fur, but that won’t necessarily keep your pet warm when temperatures drop below freezing.

“Animals get cold, just like us,” said Rita Burrows, kennel manager for the Humane Society of Northwest Georgia. “And if the temperatures get too cold and they are outside too long, they can freeze to death, just like us.”

Burrows says the best thing is to bring pets in when the temperature drops below freezing.

“We do have some outside dogs at the Humane Society. We don’t like that, but it allows us to rescue more dogs,” she said. “But we have crates, and we bring all of them inside when it gets too cold.”

If that’s not possible, make sure they have a shelter, preferably raised off the ground.

“They need a roof and four walls,” she said.

Burrows says it would also help to wrap a dog’s shelter in plastic, just to make sure the wind doesn’t blow through it, chilling the occupant.

“You also need one shelter for each dog,” she said. “People think that dogs will huddle together in a shelter to stay warm, and sometimes they do. But sometimes one dog won’t let another into the shelter.”

For cats, she recommends taking a cooler with the top on it and cutting a hole in it for the cat to enter.

“Again, you need one for each cat,” she said.

If the cat is reluctant to go in, you can leave a little food in the cooler to lure it in.

And all shelters should have straw or wood shavings inside for insulation.

Burrows says the water in pet’s bowls can freeze, so owners need to be vigilant that their pets have water to drink, and she says that pets need extra food in the winter to stay warm. If their food freezes, pets won’t be able to eat it, so owners need to keep an eye on that as well.

Even if your pet is an indoor animal, cold weather can still cause problems.

“People will put down salt to melt the ice, but that salt can irritate their paw pads,” Burrows said.

When you walk your pet, make sure to avoid salted areas, or if that’s not possible, wash their paws off with warm water when you come back in.

Walking too long on ice or snow can also lead to frostbite, so try to avoid that.

“People think dogs love snow, and they might for a few minutes. But walking on it or standing in it too long can be a problem,” she said.

When you come back in from a walk, check your pet’s ears and paws for ice and wipe off any that you find.

Burrows also says that if people spot animals left outside without shelter on freezing days, they should report it to animal control. In Whitfield County, animal control can be reached at (706) 259-2529. In Murray County, animal control can be reached at (706) 695-8003.