Protect your pets from possible winter hazards

So I just saw an article about protecting your pets from winter hazards. It listed six hazards. Although some of them apply to more than just during the winter time, they are more common in the winter.

1. Hypothermia and Frostbite
Not only you must keep your pets warm, but you have to keep their water supply from turning into ice! Invest in a heated bowl for their water if you do not leave your heat on all the time.

2. Open Flames
Keep your pets away from fireplace and some types of heaters. It's not just the heat might cause your pets harm, there is also the risk for smoke inhalation

3. Chemical Poisoning
Ice-melting salts, windshield wiper fluids and antifreeze can be deadly for cats and dogs. These chemicals are commonly used during the winter.

4. Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
Some heaters can produce toxic levels of carbon monoxide if they leak.

5. Car Engines
Some cats and even dogs might find the warm car engine to be a good place for a nap. It is dangerous for your pets if you don't pay attention what's under your car.

6. Coffee and Chocolate
"Staples of winter kitchen"... so the article called them. Both coffee and chocolate are toxic to many pets including dogs and cats. Keep these food in unreachable places in sealed containers will minimize the risk of pets find and eat them.

For more information, check out the source article here.

Thank you so much for posting all of this! A must read for all uninformed pet owners. I can relate to the anti-freeze being deadly, a neighbor left them out in a WATER DISH of all places once and our old dog drank it and died over night. It was so horrible to watch, I was 5. Ughhh.

Definitely, these are important things to be careful of, especially in the winter. Antifreeze is maybe the worst. Apparently, it tastes good, is why the animals lick it, and then it trashes their kidneys, and they die a horrible death. it is best to put them to sleep if the vet says they got antifreeze, since there is no chance of saving them anyway.
There are many plants that are poisonous to animals, and some of the ones are things like daffodils, that have bulbs, so if they are laying around, or you plant them and your dog "helps you" by coming along and digging them up again, they can chew on the bulb and poison their self. A good idea if you have a lot of plants is to look online and see which ones are safe around pets.
Puppies are especially at risk for this, since they like to both dig and chew; so if you have a new puppy that is being allowed to play in the yard, be sure there are no dangerous plants for him to dig up and chew.