(upbeat music) - Winter can be tough on pets, but Best Friends Animal Society has tips to keep them safe and cozy.

Executive director Amy Kohlbecker is here to give us some advice.

Hi Amy.

- Hi.

- Thanks so much for being here.

- Thanks for having me.

- Yeah.

Winters can be harsh on our furry friends.

- It can, yeah, and, you know, we think of them having fur and that they're protected, but they are just as susceptible as we are.

- [Mary] Okay, and like what temperatures does it have to get to to worry about hypothermia?

- Usually around 20 degrees.

But you know, if they stay outside for an extended period of time, above that it can be just as damaging for them.

- Yeah, and I think people don't realize that they can get frostbite.

- Absolutely, yeah.

So tails, ears, those with short coats usually are the most susceptible, but you know, the ears, you know, have very little hair.

So those are some of the most common areas where animals can have issues.

- Wow, okay, and so like what do you watch for in your dog, say.

- Yeah, so well one thing that you wanna do is really make sure that they are prepared.

So if you have coats or boots that your dog can wear, that's usually really helpful.

But if you are looking for something in particular for hypothermia, usually lethargic, a lot of animals will become... It's just very similar to what you would see in humans.

Lethargic, not really responsive and I dunno.

- [Mary] Yeah, we just watch for them.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- And then, okay, then we also have to worry about like antifreeze and the ice melts.

- Yeah, so ice melt is something that can be really damaging for any animal that's walking on it.

So their bare paws are walking on that, and there are a lot of chemicals in it.

They do make pet safe ice melts and that's usually what we recommend.

If your dog is walking around and it's possible they've stepped in the ice melt that is not pet safe, then you can wipe their paws off, or you can just have like a wet damp towel when they walk in and it just kind of, as they're walking, they are wiping it off themselves.

- Great, well thank you so much.

I mean, it's really helpful, so thanks a lot for being here, thank you.

- Yeah.

- And if you'd like to know more about how to keep your pet winter safe, Best Friends Animal Society, keep your pet safe for the winter, go to bestfriends.org.

That's bestfriends.org.

I'm Mary Dickson, thanks for watching "Contact."

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