Cold Weather Tips for our Furry Friends

• Use pet safe salt to apply to your driveway and sidewalk. Regular salt can be toxic to your pet.
• Dogs can still go for a walk with you in the colder months. However, make sure to wipe their paws, legs and stomach when coming back inside to clean them from road salt which can be very harmful.
• Paws can get cracked and chapped just like human hands in the colder months. So, you may ask your vet about a product to use on their paw pads to help keep them from chapping.
• Cats like to find warmth in car motors. If your car sits outside, or you have cats that can get into the garage, you may want to bang on the hood of your car a few times to ensure there are no cats in the motor of your car.
• Keep your animals indoors! They can easily freeze to death or become lost in the winter months.
• If your pet must be outside this winter, they need to have fresh water and not ice. They also need a shelter to stay warm. Straw or hay can help keep an outdoor shelter insulated.
• Dogs that are off lead outside can easily lose their scent and become lost. Keep your dog on lead while walking and make sure they have identification on their collar.
• There are several substances that are very poisonous to dogs and cats such as engine coolant and anti-freeze. Make sure to clean up spills quickly and keep your pets’ paws clean if you think they may have had contact with such liquids.
• Holiday plants, such as the Poinsettia, can be toxic to your pets. Other holiday supplies can be harmful to your pets as well such as ribbon, tinsel, fake ice cycles and holiday sweets.
• Indoor heaters and fireplaces can become a magnet to cats and some dogs. Pets can easily knock over heaters causing a fire hazard.
• Puppies, kittens and senior pets cannot tolerate the cold as well as adult pets. Keep older pets as well as kittens and puppies exposure to the cold very limited.
• Don’t leave your pets in your car. Your vehicle can get very cold and freeze you pet to death.
• Supervise your dog around frozen bodies of water in addition to high snow drifts. They could easily fall in.
• Smaller dogs, dogs with little fur, older dogs and skinny dogs can get very cold if they are outside for long periods of time. Just like humans, they could benefit from a dog jacket of some sort to keep them warm.