Cold Weather Can Kill Your Pet
“Do
not think that because your dog or cat has a fur coat that he will
be protected from winter weather,” says Matthew ‘Uncle Matty’
Margolis, dog trainer, author, behavior expert and host of the PBS
Series, WOOF!
"It just isn't so. During severe cold weather, dogs
and other pets need to come in the house or be provided with some
kind of adequate shelter.”
In a statement released recently by Pfizer Animal Health, weather
may also intensify certain health concerns such as arthritis. "Similar
to people who suffer arthritis pain, pets with mild, moderate or
severe osteoarthritis may experience more joint pain when the
weather turns damp or cold," says Dr. Bernard Cruz,
associate veterinarian at Laguna Hills Animal Hospital in Laguna
Hills, California.
Prolonged exposure to cold results in a drop in the body
temperature of dogs, cats and other pets just as it does in
humans. If your pet stays too long in the cold or gets wet in the
snow or rain and then the temperature drops as it does at night,
the animal could suffer hypothermia. This uses up the pets energy
and can cause low blood sugar. Violent shivering is followed by
apathy, then collapse and coma. Arthritis is a common disease
found in dogs and cats and even if the disease is mild, pain can
be increased during damp or cold weather.
A responsible pet owner will never expose an animal to the
possibility of hypothermia, (in a dog, a rectal temperature below
97 degrees) but if hypothermia does occur in your dog, here are
some things you must do according to Uncle Matty:
1. Wrap your dog in a blanket or coat and get him inside
immediately.
2. If your dog is wet, give him a warm bath and dry him with
towels. Rub your dog briskly.
3. Apply warm water packs or hot water bottles that are warm to
the tough of a wrist but not hot. Place them on your dog's chest
and tummy as well as under his armpits. If you don't have packs or
hot water bottles, then wrap him in an electric blanket. Keep in
mind that as sensation returns to his body, he will suffer pain.
He may try to bite at his skin. He will need sugar so add about an
eighth of a cup of honey or three or four tablespoons of sugar to
a pink to drinking water.
What about frostbite?
Again, humans are not the only creatures that are prone to
frostbite. It can affect the toes, ears and scrotum of pets. Ear
tips are especially vulnerable. A good indication of frostbite is
canine skin that first appears pale and whitish. As circulation
returns, the white areas will most often become red and swollen. A
little later the dead tissue looks like a burn and begins to
separate in a couple of weeks. These areas are prone to
infections.
If your dog suffers frostbite, warm (not hot) the affected areas
with warm water soaking for ten to twenty minutes and towel dry.
Do not rub. Be sure to apply antibiotic ointment to the affected
areas and then bandage. These affected areas will be painful and
you need to keep the dog from biting the skin.
Older dogs and puppies are the most vulnerable as are pets with
health conditions because they are less likely to be able to
regulate their body heat to any degree.
“During
winter, I get a lot of calls and e-mail from pet owner who tell me
that use winter clothing to protect their pets. Coats and sweaters
may help for little jaunts and leash walks, but they are not much
good during lengthy exposure to cold and useless if they become
wet,” says Margolis. “Dogs and cats lose a lot of their body
heat through their ears and feet.”
If you have a pet, you are responsible for his well being at all
times. “I have little patience with fair-weather pet owners.
“Too much cold and too much heat are both problems,” says this
expert, and those are two more reasons why a dog should be trained
so he knows how to behave inside the house.”
Margolis also advises pets to have a vet check before color
weather begins to make sure health is not a factor and he
emphasizes that allowing bad weather to harm a pet is another form
of abuse. There is more information about dogs and dog care at http://www.unclematty.com
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