How to Protect Your Pet This Winter

While winter can be beautiful, the cold can also be hard on us and our beloved pets. To help you keep your pet safe and warm this winter, we’ve compiled the top five ways to protect your pet this winter.

Protecting Your Pet’s Paws

Let’s start with your pet’s paws! While dogs may be used to walking around barefoot, their paws may be hurt by various chemicals used to break down ice and snow during the winter. Their paws can also be cut up by ice or become chapped from walking on rugged terrain.

To protect your pup’s paws, consider using a dog palm balm to moisturize and protect their skin or dog booties to provide maximum protection against ice, snow, and other chemicals they may walk on. Always remove their boots or wipe your pet’s paws off immediately after coming inside to prevent your dog from licking any chemicals they may have come into contact with.

Keep Your Pet Indoors

As a general rule, if it’s too cold for you to be outdoors, it’s too cold for your pet to be outdoors as well. Pets can freeze to death or suffer from wind chill, hypothermia, and frostbite from cold weather exposure.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals even warns pet parents about leaving their pets in cold cars. While we may only think of hot temperatures making cars dangerous for pets to be left alone in, cold weather can be just as dangerous. Cars act as refrigerators by holding in the cold and may cause animals to freeze to death.

To protect your pet this winter, keep them indoors and out of your car.

Watch the Chemicals

Antifreeze and other common wintertime chemicals, like ice melters, are usually toxic to both pets and children. Antifreeze is especially dangerous because of its sweet taste, which may attract children and animals. Make sure to immediately clean up any chemical spills, no matter how small, as antifreeze and many chemicals can be deadly even in small amounts.

If you’re looking for a safe ice melter, check out our original, top-rated pet and child-safe ice melter here!

Bundle Them Up

With temperatures dropping, we’re quick to throw on a jacket or sweater to keep ourselves warm, but have you stopped to consider if your pet is cold?

While our furry friends may have some fur to protect themselves, they are still at risk of frostbite, hypothermia, and windchill. According to the Humane Society, windchill can threaten a pet’s life even in less extreme temperatures. For this reason, we recommend bundling your pet up in a warm, cozy sweater before taking them outdoors. If you have a short-haired dog or cat, they may even be comfortable wearing the sweater indoors.

Give Them Choices

Just like us, our pets appreciate a warm bed or blanket to curl up with during these cold winter months. If possible, move your pet’s bed to a warmer part of the house, but be careful not to place them near space heaters and heat lamps as this can create a risk of fire or burns.

Give your pet a cozy, warm area to sleep with bedding that is frequently washed and cleaned. Show your pet how much you care by treating them to a luxurious, warm bed this winter.

We hope these pet winter safety tips will help keep you and your pet safe this winter!