Seasonal Pet Tips

When the mercury plunges, exercise caution and limit your pet’s exposure to the outdoors.

• Take dogs for shorter, more frequent walks
• Consider bundling your dog in a sweater or coat
• Keep your cats safely indoors

While the salt used on roads and driveways is helpful in preventing spills, it can irritate the sensitive pads on the bottom of your pet’s feet. Put boots on your dog during winter walks, or after a walk, wipe your dog's paws to remove salt, sand and other harmful substances.

If you keep any water bowls outside for your animals during the winter, be sure to check the supply a few times a day to ensure it isn’t frozen over. If you are unable to provide fresh, clean water regularly throughout the day you need to provide an insulated, heated water bowl in order to keep the water from freezing. Clean, fresh snow is not an adequate replacement for water for an animal.

Cats and wildlife are drawn to the heat generated by your car’s engine on cold days. Make sure you bang on your car’s hood to avoid injuring a sleeping creature.

Antifreeze is tasty to many animals, and they’ll readily consume it if given the chance. But even a small amount of antifreeze can be harmful, or even fatal, to your pet. 

• When adding antifreeze to your vehicle, pour carefully and clean up any spills that may occur. It’s also a good idea to check that your car isn’t leaking fluid. A quick look under the hood will help keep your own animals, and those in the neighbourhood, safe.
• If your pet does come in contact with antifreeze – either by ingesting it directly, or by licking exposed paws – you should be looking for signs of vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, unconsciousness, drooling and panting. If you suspect antifreeze ingestion, it’s important to act quickly, as the poisoning can cause kidney failure. Call your veterinarian immediately to avoid complications.
• You may want to consider a less toxic alternative to the ethylene glycol-based antifreeze that is most commonly used. There is new propylene glycol-based antifreeze available at many retail outlets that is safer for pets and humans alike.

The winter season is a peak time for at-home parties and other get-togethers. It may be a good idea to keep animals away from the bustle and noise during a party. If everyone does mingle together, keep an eye on your pets to make sure they don’t sneak any of the festive food and drink.

Having an animal run away from home at any time of the year is troublesome, but especially during the winter season. Make sure your best friends are equipped with proper identification, including a collar, tag and microchip to ensure they have the best possible chance of finding their way back to you. 

If you see an animal that may be suffering from heat exhaustion, and the owner can’t be quickly located, enlist the help of a parking attendant, security guard or nearby police officer, or call 911.

When calling to report an animal in a hot car, provide the following information:

• Caller’s name and phone number
• How long has the caller seen the vehicle parked there?
• Get the exact location of the vehicle
• Get the make, model and colour of the vehicle
• Get the license plate number
• Are the windows up or down?
• Is the vehicle parked in the sun or shade?
• Is the vehicle running?
• Is the dog sitting or laying down?
• Is the dog panting?
• Can the caller knock on the window? How does the dog react?
• What type of dog is it? What does it look like?
• Where is the dog in the vehicle?
• Is there water in the vehicle for the dog?

It is against the law to leave a pet unattended in a parked vehicle in a manner that endangers the health or safety of the animal, as outlined in the Provincial Animal Welfare Services (PAWS) Act. Read more about the PAWS Act.

A hot car is no place for a pet. When it’s hot, keep your dog at home, with access to shade and lots of fresh water. 

First, take your dog to your veterinarian make sure your dog is OK to come along for your exercise routine. It’s incredibly important that your dog be physically capable of keeping up with you and the bike.

Once you receive medical approval, you’ll want to ensure your dog has a proper harness and attachment for running alongside a bike. These attachments act like a shock absorber to help prevent injury to both you and your dog.

Now you’re ready to begin training! Start by walking the bike with your dog attached to it, until your dog is comfortable walking close to your bicycle.

Teaching your dog some basic commands is essential for safety. For example:

• Ready
• Hike (let’s go!)
• Gee (right)
• Haw (left)
• Whoa (slow down)
• Stop

The next step is to ride the bicycle for short distances in a quiet, low-traffic area. Start slowly, and monitor your dog’s well-being. When you are confident your dog is ready and comfortable, you can start taking longer rides.

Remember: your dog may not necessarily stop running when tired. Many dogs, especially working dogs, continue to run past the point of exhaustion. All dogs are meant to roam and do not usually sprint for long periods. Maintain a pace slow enough that your dog is only cantering, rather than galloping alongside the bike.

Provide lots of breaks for water and rest and watch your dog for signs of exhaustion or heat exhaustion:

• Panting heavily, with the tongue fully extended
• Stumbling, dragging feet
• Glazed eyes
• Disorientation
• Staring or anxious expression
• Weakness

Be very careful when biking in warm weather. On a hot day, it doesn’t take long to cause heat exhaustion, stroke or even death. Lots of sunshine means pavement can quickly become hot and damage your dog’s feet. To avoid these risks, exercise your dog earlier in the morning or late in the evening. If it’s too hot, leave your dog at home.

Ideally a relative or a friend who knows your pets or gets to know them before you leave and will be with them most of the day. Before you go, leave an adequate supply of food, grooming instructions, exercise routine and veterinarian’s and emergency clinic telephone numbers. Also inform your microchip provider of the temporary contact numbers. If possible, leave your itinerary and phone numbers. Make sure your pet is wearing a collar and tag and has had all vaccinations. Call your sitter a couple of times to check things out.

Many agree to stop by each day to feed, water and exercise your pet. Make sure you entrust this duty to a responsible person and get references.

Pet sitters are an excellent alternative to kennelling, especially for cats who often don’t do well out of their home environment. Check the yellow pages for people offering these services. Better yet, talk to friends and family and find out if they can recommend someone. Always check references and look for someone who is bonded.

Visit The Kennel and Check for the Following

• Are the cages clean and large enough for your pet?
• Is water available at all times?
• Do the kennel owners insist on all vaccinations?
• How often will your pet receive exercise? What kind of exercise?
• Is the boarding agreement complete and satisfactory?
• Is a veterinarian on call 24 hours? You might check with the veterinarian’s office to verify.

1. Holidays are a busy time for visiting and being visited — you may be away for extended periods or have a house full of guests. If you’re away, have someone check in on your pet or board your pet. Note that your pet’s vaccinations will have to be up-to-date to be accepted at a boarding facility.
2. If you’re entertaining, you may wish to keep your pets in a quiet room away from the noise and activity. If they’re mingling among the guests, make sure you’re monitoring them so that they don’t share your guests’ holiday finger foods!

1. Ornaments should be pet-friendly. Avoid using tinsel on trees. Curious animals are attracted by the shiny strings and may swallow them, which can lead to serious injury and expensive surgery. Ornaments hung on lower tree limbs should not be breakable. Also, keep your tree free of decorations made of food.
2. Barricade the water trough around the tree to prevent your pet from drinking the water, which may be dirty and contain pine needles, which are indigestible.
3. Be careful with decorative lights! Secure electrical cords and conceal outlets. Pets may chew on cords. Keep pets away from open flames.
4. Some festive plants are toxic to pets. Keep your pets away from mistletoe, holly, poinsettias and amaryllis. If ingested, they may cause vomiting, diarrhea or other problems. If your pet has ingested something you’re unsure about, call your veterinarian.

1. After gifts have been unwrapped, discard or store wrapping paper and ribbons, which could be dangerous play toys for pets.
2. You’re not the only one looking under the tree with curiosity. If you don’t know what’s in a package, don’t leave it under the tree. If a box of chocolates is wrapped and accessible to your pet, they might get into the box and ingest the toxic substance. 

1. Table scraps and leftovers aren’t just too rich for your pets: bones in the meat could lead to serious complications or death.
2. Ensure that edibles in Christmas stockings or on the tree are unreachable by your pet and away from dangerous places, such as the fireplace.

1. Always ensure that your pet is wearing adequate identification. With more frequent comings-and-goings, it’s easy for your pet to slip out of the house unnoticed.
2. On colder days, limit your pet’s exposure to the outdoors to short time periods.