Winter Safety Tips for Pet Owners

Winter Safety Tips for Pet Owners

Winter safety tips should be on your mind as the chilly winds start to blow and you prepare for Winter. Your pet’s tolerance to the cold might be very different from yours, or even from other pets in your household. Therefore, it’s essential to know what your pet’s cold tolerance is so that you can make the necessary preparations. Here are a few Winter safety tips for pet owners to follow to ensure your pet is warm and comfortable during the Winter season.

Winter safety tips should be on your mind as the chilly winds start to blow and you prepare for Winter. Your pet’s tolerance to the cold might be very different from yours, or even from other pets in your household. Therefore, it’s essential to know what your pet’s cold tolerance is so that you can make the necessary preparations. Here are a few Winter safety tips for pet owners to follow to ensure your pet is warm and comfortable during the Winter season.

1. Switch up Your Pet’s Sleeping Places

Provide comfortable bedding and a blanket for your pet to sleep on. They might change places throughout the night and shift to somewhere warmer. It’s best to give your pet space and variability in sleeping places, so they have the liberty to move around to what’s most comfortable for them.

2. Stay Indoors and Follow Winter Safety Tips for Pet Owners

It is a common misconception that cats and dogs do not feel as cold as humans do. While these animals have an extra layer of fur to keep them warm, they can still get hypothermia and frostbite when the temperatures drop. As a Winter safety tip, set the thermostat to 75 to 78 degrees, ideally to stay within a safe temperature range.

In addition to keeping the temperature warm indoors, a winter safety tip for pet owners is to encourage your pets to stay indoors as much as possible. You can take them out to walk, to relieve themselves and to play under your supervision. However, exposing your pets to continuous cold can be life-threatening to your pet, and these situations must be treated immediately. 

If you plan to go out for a bit or a long while, we are here to help watch and cuddle your pets. Please check out our pet sitting and live-in pet sitting services for more information.

3. Make or Buy Cute Clothes

If you see your lovely babies shivering, give them an additional layer of protection from the cold. A fun Winter safety tip for pet owners is to dress your pet up and knit them cute sweaters, mufflers, and socks that they can wear during the Winters. These clothing items will keep them warm and earn them a gazillion compliments for looking so adorable! If you can’t make them yourself, Amazon has a huge collection of winter clothes for your pets that you can buy.

4. Minimize Bath Times for Winter Safety

Try to bathe your pets before the Winter season starts, so you don’t have to bathe them for as long as possible during the Winter. Only bathe your pet in the Winter when it’s necessary. Also, do not shave down your pet dog or cat just before Winter. Their fur is their natural shield against the cold weather, and stripping them of it will leave them vulnerable to the cold.

5. Increase Their Feed Slightly

Don’t be surprised if you notice an increase in your pet’s appetite during the cold seasons. They burn a lot of calories in an attempt to regulate their body temperatures and keep warm, so don’t be nervous about increasing their daily portions of food a slight bit. If you aren’t sure how much to feed your pet, be sure to check-in with your vet, as they will be able to tell you how much to increase by.

6. Keep an Eye on Their Paws

Cats and dogs can get dry, cracked paws from walking on the cold, frosty ground. As a winter safety tip for pet owners, make them little socks that they can wear when going out, and rub a little Vaseline, Mushers, or other pet-friendly protective paw wax products on their paws to keep them moisturized.

7. Keep Toxic Substances Out of Reach

Ensure that antifreeze and other toxic substances are out of the reach of your pets, as ingesting these products could prove fatal for them. While you enjoy your mug of hot chocolate, make sure your pets don’t get a taste of it, as cats and dogs cannot metabolize chocolate as humans do, and it might result in an upset stomach and diarrhea for them, which will negatively affect their health.

By taking just a few precautionary measures and winter safety tips, you can make sure that the Winter season is fun for both you and your pets.

If the cold has you feeling a little under the weather, let Little Friends Pet Sitting and Dog Walking take your dog out for their regular walk while you snuggle in the blankets at home. Contact us to know more.