Do you prepare your pets for Winter?

Even though we had a heat wave last week, the weather is decidedly cooler today. Soon we'll be getting rain and fog and the temperature will fall. Other parts of the world will get snow.

This change in weather can affect our pets. Small dogs like mine get cold easily. Even though Winter for us is rarely below 40F in my area it can be windy and foggy. It's too cold for my dog when it's in the 50s.

I have a heat reflecting blanket for her so she can be warm at night. Also, I have a jacket that she wears for walks. She barely tolerates it, but at least it keeps her warm and dry.

Do you do anything to prepare your pet for Winter? Are there certain pets that need different cages, need to come in doors, or have to have special accommodations for Winter? Does anyone else have a dog like mine that can't tolerate cooler temps?

Well, with a house full of ectothermic critters that rely on me for heat, I have to adjust & recalibrate everything, lol. Tweak thermostats, adjust and change wattage of bulbs, etc... Nut really complicated, all accomplished by paying attention and the use of a handy dandy infrared thermometer. The cats don't really care. They take it all in stride, lol.

Well, we have been known to give them blankets or to sometimes let them into the house. However, I happen to live in the state of Arizona where major cold fronts and snow aren't something we deal with on average. I once did an article as a writer regarding protecting pets in winter, and learned quite a bit about how individuals should do this in colder climates. I found that its something that many pet owners must plan for and take into consideration as the weather grows colder.

Fishbone, I think you have a little more work to do than I do. LOL The only thing I need to heat is the house.

Pafjlh, I don't suspect it gets very cold in Arizona during the Winter? My part of California doesn't get very cold. We might drop into the 20s at night and have a few days in the 40s. But, Winter is more like 50-60 degrees. But, it does rain quite a big and we can get blanketed with fog several days in row.

Here in southern California it doesn't get too cold in the winter. Maybe the low to mid 50s on a really cold day. It still has been super hot here recently. The weather is going from over 90 degrees to 69 degrees and raining (just a few days ago). It's crazy really. But when it was cold last week, I put a little Halloween sweater on Gigi. Now, usually she hates wearing sweates, but she must have been cold because she actually was a little anxious to put this sweater on. It looked so cute on her, and she was upset when I took it off a couple days later when the weather jumped up 20 degrees. Silly doggie!

Heat wave? I want a heat wave! It's been in the 40's here. I really do not prepare my pet for winter too much. The only thing that we do is move her kennel from the 3 season room into the basement. We usually do this if it gets too hot during the summer months too. We like to keep her in the 3 season room a lot because she's a great guard dog! Having her in the basement, we do not feel as safe, but it makes her more comfortable at least.

I have two cats and neither of them are bothered by the cold weather but the long haired one does require a bit more cooling in the summer so I try to keep the a/c going just for her when I'm not home. My mother has a small dog that she needs to put a sweater on in the winter when she takes the dog out for a walk or to go to the bathroom.

Living in South Florida our biggest concern is over heating. The house is air conditioned and we feel if we're comfortable so are the pets. However we love going to the Swap meets and when walking around on that pavement, sometimes the ground gets too hot for Charmane's little feet, and we have to push her in the stroller.

I don't for our inside animals, no.

For outside animals, though? Yes. We put out extra straw for the dog's pen. We switch out his normal water bowls for a bigger one so that it's not as likely to freeze in the wintertime. We have put a tarp over his dog house outside before, too, to try to block out some of the wind and cold. I'm not sure how much it helps, but I can only hope that it keeps out some of the cold.

dashboard--What is a three seasons room? I've never heard that term before.

My Lab never needed anything until she got old. She never liked to be covered. Her main way of keeping warm in the Winter was to find a sunspot.

Misha is different. She is only 10 lbs and seems to need warmth all the time. She sleeps under her heat reflecting blanket in the Summer. She doesn't pay attention to the heater vents. But, if I bring out the space heater, she gets all excited. She likes to lay in front of it like it's her own little fireplace.

Our pup stays inside at night, but he loves to go play in the yard during the day, and with the weather getting really cold, I've been wondering the same thing. Should we only allow him to stay out for a little while? Should we get him a "doggy" jacket? It's hitting the 30's in the morning here right now, and that's his favorite time to be outside!

My dogs have jackets for cool weather since they get cold easily. Inside the house is always warm, but we put the jackets on them when they go outside on cold days.

No winter here. Just plenty of rain at the end of the year. Anyway most of my dogs have no problems with the rain. I remember one, Terry, a Spitz mix, which really enjoyed standing in the pouring rain. She had a thick double coat and even after an hour in the rain, she didn't really get wet all through.

Yes. Our lab needs to walk a lot so we try to walk her in the morning when it's not as cold. Lately it has been though so we walk her at an indoor track. Our doxie is 16 so he is very old. We make him wear sweaters. I don't think he likes them too much but he will shiver/shake without it.

There is not anything I need to do for my tropical fish when the winter comes. Not only my fish tanks have heaters which keep them having water temperature of constant 78~80F, but I also keep the room temperature at constant 73F throughout the entire winter. Unless I lose electricity or gas for days, there is nothing to worry about.

As far as the fish concern, they have the same environment for almost the entire year except for the hottest 2~3 weeks where the temperature can go as high as 90F.

It doesn't get that cold where I live but the temperatures can drop below freezing. A friend of mine made my two short haired dachshunds winter coats. My female dog loves to dress up (go figure) so she loves to wear her winter coat, even when it is not so cold. My male dog could care less whether or not he is wearing his coat. He doesn't fuss when I put on his winter coat, but he isn't that enthusiastic about it as my female dog.

I put an extra towel in their beds and they sleep indoors all year round, so they stay warm at night.

I also firmly believe that they do. I also believe that they tend to have selective hearing at a certain point. When my Kaylee girl was a pup, I took her to Petsmart to start her training and eventually she started responding to commands pretty well. But once I started taking her fishing and camping and spending lot of time with her off leash, it was obvious that she was responding specifically to her name. There were too many incidents that could have been pretty intense if she hadn’t learned to focus on me when I called her name.

We have livestock as well as pets, and they are all given extra protection during the winter months. Our outside cats and dog are given a more sheltered location with extra straw for bedding, and the livestock is also given extra straw. In addition to the straw and shelter, they are also given a richer diet and more food when it is cold. This helps them keep warm and they can tolerate the cold better. One of our dogs spends the winter inside with us, but prefers to spend days and nights outside in the summer.

When it comes to the summer heat, the only animals we have that we have noticed to be really bothered are the alpacas. They will become more stressed in the heat than the cold.

I think my dogs are just fine when it comes to the cold, but it doesn't get down too low here. Also, I have big dogs, so all that meat probably helps keep them warm. I do baby them, though, so they have blankets and stuff like that, in case they get cold. I don't think they really need it though.

My cockatiel is rather sensitive to the cold thanks to his bald neck. Even though he's inside and we do keep the thermostat set at 72, he used to get too cold when it was below freezing outside. I tried heat lamps, but they kept him awake at night. You have to be careful with space heaters around birds because many space heaters have teflon, which has been known to kill birds. So, I invested in a special bird-safe heat panel that can either be hung on the side of the cage or mounted on the wall behind the cage. It keeps the temperature in his cage a comfortable 75-78, which seems ideal for him. When he's out of the cage, he usually hangs out on me, so gets my body heat.

My cat is usually very low maintenence. She always likes to be very warm so when the winter months come around I always tend to switch her bed to a more cozy and warm one. I always try to make her as comfortable as possible so I also add a bunch of blankets in there in case she needs them. My apartment tends to get very chilly so my hands are usually freezing which makes me worry about how my cat reacts to all of this!