Winter tips to keep your pet comfy, cozy, and healthy when the winter winds blow: 

Indoor Dogs, Puppies, Cats and Kittens: 

• Keep indoor pets in a dry, warm area free of drafts.  If possible, elevate your pet's bed off the floor. 
• If you own a short haired dog or cat, provided the pet with a warm sweater for those cold winter walks or when carried outside. 
• Your pet may look for a warm resting place, so keep a fire screen around a fireplace hearth  and a wood burning stove. 
• Space heaters pose a triple threat.  Your pet may chew the cord, burn itself on the heater, or knock it over and cause a fire. 
• Warm air-conditioned air can cause skin problems for pets when they sleep on or near vents.  Some animals with sensitive skins will react even though they sleep or rest no where near vents.  A fatty acid oral skin supplement may be needed to help prevent this problem. 
• Keep a towel and an old throw rug by the door. Following outdoor activity, dry your pet's chest, underbelly, and feet. 

Outdoor Cats and Kittens: 

• Although best kept inside for their health and longer life, some people allow their cats to roam outside.  In winter, cats and kittens often nap on car engines for warmth.  Knock on the hood and honk the horn, then wait a few moments before starting your car. 
• A warm place can be provided for outdoor cats by placing blankets, towels or sheets in a draft free area in a garage, storage building or utility room.  A dry, insulated pet house or shelter from the wind, rain or snow is even better.  Best of all, bring your pet inside if the wind chill or other weather conditions become severe. 
• Provide outdoor cats plenty of nutritious, quality brand food and water.  Check often in the coldest weather to make certain their water source is not frozen.  Using metal water dishes outside in winter may be a risk, because your pet's tongue could stick to the frozen metal. 
• Cheap brands of cat foods are not good for your pet!  In pet foods, you get what you pay for!  Buy cheap, get cheap! 

Outdoor Dogs and Puppies: 

• Pets (usually dogs) like the sweet smell and taste of antifreeze, but a very small amount can kill them  quickly.  Thoroughly clean up any spills at once.  Tightly close containers and store them where pets cannot get to them. 
• Provide outdoor dogs with a dry, insulated pet house or shelter from the wind and rain or snow.  Bring your pet inside if the wind chill or other weather conditions become severe. 
• Provide plenty of clean drinking water during the winter, and when it is below freezing, check frequently to ensure your pet's water source is not frozen.  If it is, break the crust or get another full bowl.  Check frequently! 
• Using metal water dishes outside in winter may be a risk, because your pet's tongue could stick 
  to the frozen metal. 
• If your dog enjoys playing in the snow or ice, those rare Texas occasions, take the normal precautions against frostbite, don't let them stay out long, and watch for cracked pads or tiny cuts in the feet. 
• Don't let your dog ride in the back of a pickup truck during the winter time.  Along with the potential of losing your dog in an accident, winter adds the possibility of frigid temperatures and chilling as the wind rushes by. 
• Staying warm requires extra calories, so feed your pet accordingly when the temperature drops.  Talk to your veterinarian for advice on the proper diets.  Hill's Prescription Diets and Science Diets provide all of the necessary nutrition to keep any pet healthy and warm during cold winter weather.  Originally developed in 1929, there are no finer pet foods than these, and they may be ordered from Emerson Animal Hospital.  

"Old Roy" and similar cheap foods are not good for your pet! 

In pet foods, you get what you pay for! 

Buy cheap, get cheap!  The only one that suffers is your pet!