Dangerously cold temps and extremely low wind chills will hit the area this weekend and its time to make sure your outdoor pets and animals can stay warm. Kristy Henning, who is the Director at the Emmet County Animal Shelter says its really important to make sure your pets can stay hydrated.
“Being dehydrated and also being cold can be very life threatening. So if you have pets outside, make sure that they have access to flowing water, which I’m talking about like liquid water. Having a frozen bowl doesn’t do them any good. A plug in water bowl can serve as a dog bowl. A cat bowl. A bird bowl. A raccoon bowl or whoever. Somebody that can get to water is what they need. Um, birds especially need water because they have to stay hydrated so they can stay warm as well. The other thing is, they need extra nutrients during the cold. We burn a lot of energy when we’re cold. So if you have pets, make sure you increase their food availability.”
When it comes to outdoor cats and dogs Henning says its important to create a shelter that helps them stay warm.
“As far as outdoor dogs, if you can get an insulated dog house, those igloo things that are plastic. They’ve proven that they don’t really give any sort of protection. So something insulated. Otherwise, if they’re in a kennel, you can do a kennel pad, which is a heated pad that can plug in, and they make outdoor ones that are super duper nice. And then straw not hay. Make sure it’s straw. Don’t use blankets outside in the cold weather because they absorb moisture. And then when they melt, they freeze, which actually can be very counterproductive to heating them up. And you can tarp the kennel off so that we can reduce any wind shear on a dog outside cats or colony cats. They can have a styrofoam cooler. Or if anybody has old top coolers, you can find some really cool ideas on how to turn those into houses for outside animals. And then, of course, if it gets really cold, we’re talking, you know, below zero temperatures. Bring them inside.”
If your budget is a little tight during the holidays or any time during the year, Henning says they are prepared to help.
“How styrofoam coolers that we’ve been building all along the years. We have straw available for people too. So we’re happy to help out in that way as well. If anybody needs some straw for insulation and then, um, you know, a tarp hopefully isn’t too expensive. If you could get one of those up or you can, you know, there’s all kinds of resources on Facebook, you’d be amazed how supportive the community can be if you put out a need, especially your neighbors. They want to see your pet be okay also.”
Kristy Henning is with the Emmet County Animal Shelter located in Estherville but you can also contact the HSNWIA and People for Pets in Spencer or any local shelter that is close to you.
