Pets Need Help To Weather The Winter Experts Offer Tips On Making Sure Animals Stay Healthy When It’S Cold

When Spokane Humane Society volunteer Jenna Norman went camping Tuesday night, she wore seven layers of clothes but was still cold.

“I go camping in the summer, and I freeze,” Norman, 17, said. “So I never thought I’d be going in such cold conditions.”

Just like people, pets need to be prepared for frigid temperatures, experts said at a Humane Society gathering at Riverside Park’s Bowl and Pitcher on Tuesday night. Some people, like Norman, planned to set an example by staying the night in the park.

“If you’re well-prepared, you can enjoy these temperatures,” said Jim Fox, executive director of the society. “But if you’re not, it can be a dangerous situation.”

The society had hoped to educate the public on the needs of animals in cold weather, but only the experts, society officials, volunteers and a few of their family members showed up.

Still, Fox vowed to stay the night with his family and two dogs. He said the group might schedule the event, which was planned to correspond with the last day of school before winter break, at a more accessible park next year.

Even without speeches, pet experts offered advice.

Brian Hunter, president of the Inland Empire Veterinary Medical Association, said foot irritation is the most common winter pet ailment he sees at his pet clinic.

Dogs commonly get balls of snow stuck in their paws that dry their skin, Hunter said. Irritation also is caused by de-icing chemicals.

Hunter recommends washing pets’ feet when they come in from the cold, and some dogs should have areas cleared for them outside to make it easier to go to the bathroom, he said.

Hunter warned that dogs who mostly stay indoors don’t develop an adequate coat of hair or fat and shouldn’t be exposed to long periods of cold temperatures.

“They don’t (have) a good winter coat and will shed all winter long,” Hunter said.

While indoor dogs should be fed less because they aren’t as active, outdoor dogs need more food because of the extra calories needed to keep warm, he advised.

Most important, Hunter said, make sure to clean spilled antifreeze from any garage or outdoor area pets enter. Dogs are attracted to the chemical because it’s sweet, but it’s also deadly.

“It has to be seen immediately to have any chance of saving it,” Hunter said.

Bob Smoldt, a Spokane County animal control officer, said the county will perform welfare checks on pets if a neighbor sees a pet in danger from cold temperatures.

“Dogs who can handle mild winters can’t necessarily handle these severe ones,” he said.

This sidebar appeared with the story: PET TIP

Dogs are attracted to spilled antifreeze because it’s sweet, but it’s also deadly.