How Can You Keep Your Pet Safe in The Winter?
Your pets deserve the best care, so you treat them like family. Just like everyone else you love, you want to keep your pet safe in winter weather. To do that, you don’t have to make special arrangements or spend a lot of money on winter weather gear.
It’s pretty simple really, sort of like a pet Golden Rule. To keep your pets safe in winter, you simply treat them the way you want to be treated. Do the things for your pet that you do for yourself and you can both stay safe and warm.
Come in out of the cold
Even if you love a good snowball fight, there’s only so much time you can spend outside before it’s time to come in out of the cold. Remember, if the cold weather is too uncomfortable for you, your pet probably doesn’t like it either, so go back inside. Also, you can help keep your pet safe in winter, by staying inside on super cold days. Your pet probably won’t mind at all.
Avoid icy paths
Ice is pretty and shiny but it turns every sidewalk into a slip and fall nightmare. If you feel unsafe when you walk on ice, your pet probably feels the same way. Why not walk around the ice so both of you can avoid it completely.
Stay dry and clean
When you take your pet for a walk in cold snowy weather, you’re bound to slip into a slushy puddle or two. You’re also destined to run into salt, chemical deicers, and the sand some people use to treat their walkways. These substances are difficult on pet paws and some are poisonous. (Consider what they do to your shoes.)
To keep your pet safe in winter, it’s important to make sure both you and your pet are clean, dry, and free of winter deicing chemicals. Carry a towel when you take a winter walk to wipe away excess wetness and chemicals from your pet’s coat and paws. Carry a towel for yourself too. When you come back inside, do a thorough drying from top to bottom and check those paws (and feet) for irritation or injury.
Dress in layers
Your mom taught you to dress in layers and you do it because it keeps you warm. You might not be the type to dress your dog or cat in a cutesy sweater, but you can keep your pet safe in winter by letting them keep the warm layers they already have. If you must cut your pet’s hair, wait until springtime. P.S. It’s also okay to wear matching sweaters if it suits your fashion sense.
Stay healthy
When it’s cold outside an illness makes things so much worse. (That’s one of the reasons why you get those dreaded flu shots each year.) Do the same for your pet. While he won’t need a flu shot, as you enter the chilliest months of the year, you should make sure your pet is all caught up on preventative care.
A Family-Centered Practice
If you want to learn more about keeping your pet safe in winter, we’d love to share what we know. Contact Hebron Veterinary Hospital at (860) 288 4324 for more information or if it’s time to schedule a checkup visit our contact page.