DON’T FORGET TO WINTERIZE YOUR PETS!
Just as your car may need special attention as cold weather approaches, so do your pets, especially if they stay outdoors throughout the winter months. As the next several months tend to be the coldest in this area here are a few tips to help winterize your animals.
- If possible KEEP PETS OUT OF GARAGES. If this is the only shelter you can provide your animals then take the following precautions:
- Be sure rat and mouse poisons are locked away or out of reach. Make sure antifreeze is out of reach; it tastes good to pets but is very harmful to them.
- If you have cats inside the garage make sure you check under your vehicle hood before starting your engine, cats like to sleep on warm engine blocks.
- If your dogs are kept outside primarily you might need to increase their food for the winter months. Trying to keep warm burns extra calories so outdoor dogs will need more food for energy.
- Prevent drinking water from freezing by:
Storing the water in a heated enclosure while outside. Or you can purchase bowl warmers from a local pet store.
- Make sure animals that stay outdoors have a secure warm shelter.
Check the shelter for any leaks and repair them. Use a canvas flap or buy a plastic flap for the door to keep wind and rain out of the shelter.
Make sure that the shelter door is big enough for them to get through but will not allow the cold get to them. Make sure the inside is big enough for the animal to stand and turn around in, and to find a place to lie that is away from the entrance to conserve their own body heat. Put bedding in there that the animal will not shred or drag out of the shelter. Good choices are newspaper, hay, or cedar chips. Just make sure to check for fleas because during the cold months fleas thrive in the bedding warmed by your pet.
- For indoor and outdoor animals during the winter months their coats can look or feel dry. You can combat this by bathing your pets less often or using a humectant or bath oil spray.
- Indoor pets still need exercise during the winter months so be sure to walk them regularly. For shorthaired breeds you might need to add a doggy coat or sweater in extremely cold weather.
ALL DOGS SHOULD BE BROUGHT INSIDE WHEN THE TEMPERATURES DROP BELOW 32°. The reason isn't so much the temperature (in animals that are mostly outside) it is the fact any and all water supplies for that pet will be frozen and they can rapidly die.
David L. Board
Chief of Police
dboard@cityofbastrop.org
