Tips for keeping your pets safe this winter

Dr. Jeff Goodall from Bedford’s Sunnyview Animal Care Centre has some advice

CITYNEWS HALIFAX \ Meghan Groff

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Winter is here and a local vet has some advice on how to keep your pets safe this season.

Dr. Jeff Goodall from Bedford’s Sunnyview Animal Care Centre says keep them away from antifreeze.

It can be made from ethylene glycol, which can also be found in some windshield washer fluids. brake fluids, inks/printer cartridges and even some snow globes.

It has a sweet taste that may attract animals, but if they ingest it, it could be deadly. For a cat or a small dog, all it would take is a couple licks to put them in danger.

“Get your animal to the veterinarian in a timely manner,” he told CityNews Halifax. “This stuff forms crystals in the kidneys and literally tears the kidneys from the inside out. It’s so sad.”

Goodall said your animal might seem intoxicated at first.

“Lethargy, vomiting, urination, and then they start drinking,” he outlined. “The other problem is they start losing body temperature, and this is all within about an hour or so of ingestion.”

Within 12 to 18 hours, it may appear that you pet is getting better, but Goodall said don’t be deceived because the final stage of antifreeze poisoning is kidney failure. The sooner your animal gets medical help, the better their chances are of survival.

Another risk for pets is one you may not think about this time of year, ticks. Goodall said these pests are a problem year-round.

“Any day that the temperature that goes above 4 degrees Celsius — and there’s not one month in Nova Scotia where that can’t happen — ticks can be active,” he explained.

“Tick prevention is something you want to consider year round,” he added. “For all our coastlines, it’s pretty rare to get a good hard freeze in there, so around the harbour, up the Eastern Shore, down the South Shore, around the Bay of Fundy, we still see ticks.”

And you’re going to want to make sure your dog stays warm during a deep freeze.

“People think dogs with thick coats don’t get windchill and don’t get frostbite, but no. Think about windchill, think about dampness and rain, those can really mess up your dog’s coat,” he said.

If your dog spends a lot of time outside, they’ll need a padded and insulated surface to lay on to protect them from the cold ground.

“If your dog is an outdoor dog, and I don’t necessarily agree with that, make sure to increase the calories in their diet,” Goodall stated.

But that advice doesn’t necessarily carry over to inside dogs. The vet said because most dogs aren’t spending as much time being active outside, they won’t be burning as many calories.