Providing your dog is healthy and well, they should be able to continue to enjoy their wintery walks. However, some things we could consider include:

Coats

Dogs, like us, can feel cold outdoors, and a well-fitting coat helps keep them warm and dry. This is especially important for older dogs, puppies, and breeds with short coats, such as Staffordshire Bull Terriers or Greyhounds. While breeds like Huskies are more suited for colder weather, they may still feel the chill.

Booties

Rock salt used for de-icing can stick to dogs’ paws and be ingested during grooming. Check your dog’s paws for grit after walks, and avoid walking on salted pavements.

Darker days

Shorter wintery days mean It is likely when we walk our dogs it will be in darkness, affecting the visibility of other dog walkers, people, and vehicles who may not be able to see you or your dog.

To keep safe, we recommend that you:

• Make sure to carry your phone with you on your walk for emergencies.
• Bring a head torch/ torch with you on your walk.
• Wear bright reflective clothing.
• Reflective dog walking gear like collars and harnesses. You can also get collars that light up!
• If your dog likes bringing toys, you can get light up balls so you can locate it at home time!

If letting your dog off lead, it is also important to ensure your dog has good recall or only letting them off in enclosed areas, away from the road.

Rivers and lakes

When walking your dog if you have a dog that loves water it is important to mindful of frozen lakes and rivers. It is advisory to keep your dogs on lead if they are likely to take it upon themselves to jump in.

Alternatives to walks

Slippery surfaces, cold temperatures and darkness can all mean your dog (or you!) may be reluctant to go for a walk at times. As an owner this can make us feel guilty, however, there is no need, as providing we have offered our dogs mental stimulation, they can manage happily without long walks every day.

Mental stimulation can be provided through setting up games for our dogs. Here are some fun suggestions of activities you can prepare for your dog in the home.

• You can put their food in treat balls and puzzles.
• Scent games – scatter treats and ask them to ‘find it,’ snuffle mats, hiding treats under plastic cups.
• Enrichment items such as, chews, Kongs, Licki Mats, and toys.
• Using items around the house to put treats/ toys in such as, egg boxes, muffin trays, cardboard boxes, and even toilet roll tubes.
• Ensuring you rotate your dog’s toys around each day will keep them entertained for longer.

Please see below instructions for some fun, quick ideas that we use here at the shelter to provide enrichment for our animals, with items that can be found around your home!

In the home

To help keep your pets warm in the home their bed should be placed in a warm area in your house, and you can provide, thick, warm blankets.

If you have a dog that is prone to feeling cold, due to their breed, age, or individual requirements you could consider getting your dog a jumper to wear on days where it is colder and at nighttime.

Cold cars

Many of us have heard of ‘dogs die in hot cars’, however, being left unattended in cars during winter can be equally as fatal. Temperatures can drop very quickly so your dog should never be left alone in a car.

Arthritis

** If your dog has arthritis and you notice that they begin to show signs of discomfort due to the cold ensure you speak to your vet for advice. **

Cats are known for seeking warm and cosy spots all year round so we should be particularly mindful of young or elderly cats during the winter as they will feel likely the cold temperatures more prevalently.

Outdoor access and shelter

If you can do so without causing your cat additional stress, it can be best to keep your feline friend indoors on days when the temperature is extremely cold outside. This can help keep them from wandering off somewhere unsafe to keep warm, and from potential road traffic accidents due to lack of visibility.

Most cats will choose to stay inside where it is warmer, however, if you have a free roaming cat (cats who prefer to stay outside e.g. farm cats), or cats who would become stressed if their access to outdoors is taken away, keeping them indoors may not be a viable option.

Instead, free roaming and outdoor cats can be provided with shelter outdoors to help keep them warm. This can also be set up for feral cats in your area. Examples, of outdoor shelter include kitty cabins, and thermal barrier shelters. This will offer them a place to go to stay warm and dry. To help encourage the cats to use the shelter you can make the area nice for them with comfy blankets, food, treats, and catnip.

If your cat has access to outside, ALWAYS ensure that they have an up-to-date microchip so if they wander off to a warm place, they can easily be traced back to your home address. It is now the law to ensure your cat is microchipped and all information is up to date.

For further information on the legislation that came into place in June 2024 please visit our ‘Cat Microchipping – New Legislation’ article.

Cars

When outside temperature drops, cats often seek warmth and shelter in unsafe locations, such as under cars, or even crawling into car bonnets or engines to seek warmth. This can cause serious injury or even death if cars are started up whilst the cat is there. Being mindful of this can help the cats in your local area and we can give a quick check of our cars before starting our engines.
Another danger for our cats when it comes to vehicles is Antifreeze. This product is used in car radiators, screen wash, and de-icers. Antifreeze is toxic to our pets, particularly cats with even a small amount causing potential harm.

Steps that can be taken to protect your cat, as well as other cats in your area by ensuring the screen wash or de-icers you use do not contain ethylene glycol, make sure any products are safely stored away out of reach, as well as wiping away any spillages after draining your car radiator.

In the home

There are lots of things we as pet owners can do to ensure that our homes are a warm, snuggly place for our cats. During colder weather most cats may choose to stay indoors rather than venturing outside:

• Provide cosy places for our cats to lie with a warm bed and blankets.
• Pet-safe microwavable heat pads can be placed where they like to sleep.
• Encourage your cat to move to a warmer room.
• To keep your cats entertained while they are indoors, provide mental stimulation through enrichment items such as toys, treat balls and puzzles. Encouraging them to play also generates more body heat making them warmer.
• Ensure you have litter trays inside your home, so they have the option to stay indoors, rather than going outside to the toilet. You should have one litter tray, plus one extra per cat in your household.
• Older and younger cats are more affected by the cold as, well as hairless breeds. If the cat is comfortable with their handling, you can pop a pet appropriate jumper on them.
• If your cat goes outside dry them off after they come in from the rain or snow.

To further ensure our cats stay safe during winter:

• Screens and guards can be used to prevent your cat from getting close to hot surfaces such as, radiators and fireplaces.
• Consider cat flap maintenance! Check your cat flap regularly to make sure it is opening and shutting with ease. Sometimes cat flaps can be affected by the frost or blocked by snow. This will ensure your cat is not stuck in or out of the house.

The cold temperatures can impact older cats who have health diagnoses such as arthritis at this time of year. If you notice signs of discomfort, please seek advice from your local veterinary practice.
It can be difficult to spot when our cats are in pain, as it is instinctive for them to cover up if they feel hurt or unwell. For more information on arthritic cats including signs and adaptations you can make to your home please read Cats Protection’s article ‘Cats and arthritis: spot the signs and adapt your home’.

Rabbits, or guinea pigs, sadly are the most likely to find the winter months challenging with many being housed outdoors in the cold temperatures. It is important that rabbit owners should be giving extra care and provision to their pet to ensure they are kept cosy and safe throughout the cold spells.

Housing

If at all able, it is firstly advised to bring your rabbit’s accommodation indoors during the winter months, and if not within your home, then perhaps a garage, shed or summerhouse. This will help prevent your rabbit being exposed to hypothermia, frostbite or even death from cold spells. If this is not an option for you, these tips below may help:

• If your rabbit is staying outdoors, you can cover their accommodation with blankets and waterproof tarpaulin, and some hutches come with fitted covers. Please be aware there should still be ventilation and that these items are not in reach of your rabbits to avoid them chewing them. Ensure their housing is positioned so that wind, rain and snow cannot blow into their accommodation.
• Purchase a pet-safe microwavable heat pad to place in their resting areas for a source of warmth for up to 10 hours.
• Monitor water bottles regularly– it is not uncommon for a water bottle to freeze over so checking morning and night will ensure your rabbits always have access to water. Covers can also be purchased to go over your water bottles to insulate them. If your rabbit prefers to drink from a bowl, you can also place a ping pong ball in which means the water is constantly moving and helps prevent it freezing over.
• Provide more bedding than usual. Straw can be more insulating than hay, however, they also require lots of hay topped up too, which should make up 85% of their total diet. An extra litter tray filled with good quality meadow hay can be ideal for a rabbit to snuggle up into and keep cosy.
• Extra enrichment is key to help vitalise your bunnies on those shorter days. Items such as twigs, treat balls and safe chew toys encourage our rabbits to move around and feel happier.
• Make sure your rabbit has plenty of space within their winter home. As access to their usual play area may be out of bounds in the winter, space is not only essential for their welfare but allowing them to have plenty of room to move around and exercise will help keep them warm. Bringing them indoors for some supervised play time can be a great option!
• Ensure your rabbit has a bonded rabbit friend! Rabbits are sociable animals and can become lonely if they are not housed with a companion. Not only does this make them happier, but it also means they have a friend to snuggle up to and help to keep them warm. (Please note rabbits should only live with other rabbits, guinea pigs are not advisable housemates for them).

Food

Rabbits are less likely to be able to forage for greens such as, grass and dandelion leaves during winter. It is therefore important to provide your rabbit with plenty of leafy greens and herbs. Before giving your rabbits herbs and rabbit safe vegetables make sure they are at room temperature, rather than straight from the fridge.

Provide extra hay to keep them warm and to keep up their energy.