How to Keep Your Pet Cozy During Winter

With both the holiday season and cold weather coming along, winter will bring your pets happiness and trouble. When the cold weather comes around, it becomes more important than ever to take extra care of your pet. You’ll have to pull out all the stocks to ensure you keep your pet cozy during winter. Cats and dogs are extremely sensitive to temperature changes. That means they can experience winter discomfort and are a lot more susceptible to ailments. With all that said, let’s list some of the best ways to ensure your pet has an enjoyable winter experience.

Stay indoors as much as you can

Since icy weather conditions can be very bad for your pet’s health, winter is the perfect season to spend more time indoors with them. Of course, dogs still have to be taken for walks. However, there are a few rules you have to follow when it comes to this:

• Only take the necessary walks.
• Avoid any roads and walkways which tend to become very cold or have a layer of frost over them.
• Keep walks short but fun and engaging
• Try going for a jog rather than a slow-paced walk.

Although you should stay inside, you should still try to engage with it as much as possible.

Another crucial thing to keep in mind is that dogs and other pets can become depressed, just like people. So, to avoid this, it’s important to keep them active and entertained, even when you can’t go outside as much. You should play with them as much as you can. And make sure that their favorite corners and areas of your home are always well-heated.

Create a cozy sleeping area

The next thing you could do to keep your pet cozy during winter is to make their sleeping area as comfy as possible. Follow your pet’s sleeping habits for a few days and see where they enjoy sleeping the most. After that, it’s time to deck it out with a few comfortable, warm blankets and soft pillows.

Using a space heater is an excellent way to keep that spot warm. However, it brings the danger of your pet’s skin getting burned if they make direct contact with the heater. A much better alternative is to use warm water bottles. All you have to do is heat some water and pour it into a few bottles. Then just hide them under the blankets of the sleeping area you’ve made for them, and they’ll keep it warm for a few hours.

If you’re moving with your pet this winter, this becomes even more important. Not only will your pet be in danger from the weather, but this significant change will also put them under a lot of stress. A cozy sleeping area is an excellent way to help them get used to their new home and reduce stress. For example, if you’re moving in the Manhattan winter, it’s best to get professional help with the moving process and let experts handle this. At the same time, you can take extra care to make your new home as comfortable for your pet as possible.

Keep them hydrated

Dehydration is a huge issue during the winter for your pets. Making sure you provide enough water for them during this time is imperative. To warm themselves up when the humidity drops, animals spend a lot more energy than usual. This is why they tend to require much more water. All you have to do is check their water bowl every few hours to ensure they have enough.

If you want to keep your pet cozy during winter, you must keep them hydrated.

Create a good balance of extra feeding and weight watching

During the winter, all animals (including us humans) shiver to spend more energy and keep themselves warm. And with this extra energy being consumed, animals require more energy input. This means that increasing the amount of food you give your pet during the winter is a must. If you take extra care and make sure that they are fed properly during this time, you’ll be able to add years to their lifespan.

However, it is vital to keep a good balance. Since they’ll be spending less time running around and playing outside, they’ll also save some extra energy. So, to avoid health issues, you need to balance out supplementary feeding. The best way to do this is by adding more healthy food to your pet’s diet. Your dog could use chicken breast meat on their dry kibble. And you could increase the amount of wet food your cat gets during the week.

Get them a cool yet warm outfit

This tip is crucial for short-haired pets. Whenever you take your dog for a walk in the winter, you should have a small dog sweater or another form of dog clothes at the ready. You can even invest in multiple pairs since they’ll usually get wet after being in the snow for a while. You could also get them some dog boots to keep their paws warm. Keep in mind that some animals find these uncomfortable. If they start chewing on the clothing items, make sure that they aren’t ingesting any of the material.

When you do have to take them for walks, covering your dog up with a cute clothing item is a great way to make sure it stays warm.

Grooming is even more important during winter

If you want to keep your pet cozy during winter, you should take them to the groomer at least once or twice a month. If they are not groomed regularly, their coat will become matted. This makes your pet’s natural insulation useless and much more susceptible to the cold. If this happens, they are much more likely to become ill during this winter.

Besides their coat, your pet’s nails need to be cut more frequently in the winter. Since they will be less active, their nails will not naturally wear down as much as they do in the warmer part of the year. If they grow out too long, they can become uncomfortable and retain more dirt. The extra dirt makes them more susceptible to infections.

To wrap up

The winter months don’t have to be a bother. Neither to you nor your pet. As long as you do your best to keep your pet cozy during winter by utilizing all of these tips, they will surely enjoy these incredible few months with you. Make sure you keep them warm, avoid leaving them outside, and make their sleeping corners comfy and warm. Keep them well-fed and hydrated, and well-groomed. And if you see any signs of ailments, take them to the vet as soon as possible. Of course, they will need to be insured for this. For your pet insurance needs, please check out pet insurance reviews with TheInsuredPet: #1 Pet Insurance Review Site/Top 8 Best Affordable Plans to find out which pet insurance best suits you and your pet.

Author’s Bio:

Peter Whitehall is a moving professional and freelance writer for teddymoving.com. In his free time, he enjoys reading, drinking coffee, and hanging out with his two lovely dogs and cat.