Angels leader offers care tips for pets during deep freeze
The old saying goes: “If you’re cold, they’re cold.”
Diane Less wants people to use more common sense when it comes to applying that adage and taking care of pets during extreme cold spells.
“Anybody that has a pet, you need to get them inside. It’s just too cold,” said the Angels for Animals co-founder. “The most important thing is not leaving them out. It takes so much of their energy.”
Temperatures Tuesday night dropped as low as minus 15 degrees with wind chills hitting minus 25. Temperatures stayed in the teens on Wednesday and are not expected to reach the 20s until around 1 p.m. today.
“It will bring on colds. It does the same things to animals that it does to us. And they don’t get to put on a coat and boots and a hat,” she said. “A box with straw … are you willing to go outside and sleep in that?”
Less said it is not just about the animal being cold, though.
“Water is a big concern. It freezes solid within an hour or two so it’s easy for them to get dehydrated,” she said.
Less said owners who let their dogs out to relieve themselves should keep a close watch and let them back in as soon as possible. She also recommends covering their feet if possible or at least washing them off after the dog comes back in, in case the dog walked through salt or de-icer. Less recommends using a pet-friendly de-icer, which is both effective and safe, but still suggests cleaning the dog’s paws.
“Licking salt off their paws is not good for them, and the salt or chemicals in the de-icer is not good for the pads on their feet,” she said.
Less also suggested clipping the hair between the toes to help keep that space clean.
She said it also is important to keep a closer eye on pets so they do not run off during the cold spell. Not only is the extreme cold dangerous, but Less said returning a lost dog to its home is almost always a challenge. She said it is important to keep them tagged and maintain proper documentation.
“Keep your pets’ collars on, and make sure they have their license and tags. That’s their ticket home,” she said. “If it has a Mahoning County or Columbiana County license, you can find the owner online.”
Less said keeping the dog licensed is also the law, but if someone wants to claim their dog from Angels or another shelter, the owner will need to show the license certificate.
“And microchip your pets. Without a collar they may not know whose dog it is, but we can scan the microchip and find the owner that way. It’s the cheapest insurance you can buy. They can lose their collar or their tags, but they can’t lose that microchip,” she said.
If a pet does get loose and or a stray needs to be rescued from the temperatures, Angels can help there, too, Less said.
“We have traps available at Angels. You just leave us a credit card or check for deposit, and we’ll give it back when the trap is returned. We have traps for cats and dogs.”
The cold weather causes other problems, though, that even indoor pet owners should be aware of, especially those with older pets.
“My phone just won’t stop ringing with pet euthanasia issues. It’s one of the things about this weather,” she said. “It causes a wave of animals coming to the end of life quickly. It’s just a trend I’m seeing. But I’ve noticed it in the past, and nobody’s ever told me why.”
Less said now is also the time to consider preparing animals for when the weather warms up.
“We also want to remind everybody that since the December solstice, the days start to get longer, and that first day that there’s a bit of warm temperature, it makes all the cats go into heat,” she said. “So, if you’re feeding cats and they’re not fixed, now is the time to do that.”
Less said fixing one cat will prevent up to another 30 being born.
“By the time they wean that first litter in May, they’re ready for another litter. And those kittens will end up having a litter by the end of the season,” she said.
Pregnant cats can be fixed, and Angels provides on-demand spaying and neutering Monday through Wednesday from 8 a.m. on. The animal can be dropped off in the morning and picked up in the afternoon and Angels will take up to two cats per customer per day.
“People get upset about animals being euthanized who don’t have homes, but that comes from having too many cats,” she said.
Less said Angels is still providing vouchers to get a cat fixed for $20.
One positive thing about the cold weather, Less said, is that the deep freeze helps to kill eggs and larvae from fleas and ticks, which have been overpopulating in recent years because of very mild winters.
“Almost every dog we get at the shelter has lyme disease,” she said. “We’ve had so many fleas and parasites and tick-borne illnesses, and these hard freezes reduce the population. So, I’m hoping that will be the benefit.”