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When the overnight temperature starts to dip, most people will simply turn up the heater, turn on an electric blanket or even put on more clothes. But what about your dog or cat who can’t do any of those. Pet Expert Scott Holloway says if it’s really cold the pets must come in inside.
“Just because they have a coat doesn’t mean they’re protected. Even the Nordic dogs, the sled dogs, they do everything they can to huddle them together and keep them warm.”
Holloway works the city’s animal shelter most people know as BARC. He says ideally, dogs like the temperature to be around 65. For cats, it’s 80. So as you can see this week’s temperatures are much lower than that. He says even if you have an outside pet that’s not house trained you need to find a warm place for them, even if it’s the garage.
“If the dog or cat is not used to being inside, they need to pick a room like a bathroom or laundry room and set them up and make them comfortable. If they have a crate that would be optimum. If not, if they put them in the bathroom, remove the towels, toilet paper, remove anything they can shred.”
If for some reason your pet is left in freezing weather and then brought inside the experts say don’t use hot water to thaw toes or ears and don’t rub any frozen areas. They say this could cause more harm to already damaged skin.