With the arrival of the first snow, the editor has realized that winter has actually come a long time ago. Every winter, aunts bring our shelter small cotton mats to help the shelter’s cats survive the winter. Here, on behalf of the shelter, I also thank you to the loving aunts who are skilful ~~
Winter for stray animals is more difficult than summer.
On average, 8 out of every 10 stray cats and dogs in the wild die directly or indirectly from the cold.
In the cold winter, it is more difficult for stray animals to find food and water, and food and water sources are seriously in short supply, resulting in animal body functions that have dropped to the bottom line, and there is simply not enough energy and fat to withstand the cold snap. Stray cats and dogs in a sub-healthy state, suffering from dehydration and hunger,
Every day, a large number of stray animals pass out after entering the night because of weakness and cold, and they never wake up again.
Stray animals in the cold winter. Mapping of the Benbor shelter
The stray cats and dogs you see on the streets are not as lucky as the shelter cats and dogs are contained. Because when winter comes, shelters everywhere are in short supply, and it is impossible to accommodate so many animals. Here I want to say to some netizens: don’t think that they deserve to live on the street, you know, many of the stray cats and dogs have had owners, maybe your friends or abandoned animals around you, they should have a warm home.
The cold hurts the animals in the shelter
The dog’s adaptation temperature is 10 ° C – 20 ° C,
Most animal shelters are built in remote urban villages, and as far as I know, many shelters do not have central heating, because the shelter site is very large, and the heating cost is not easily affordable for a shelter. And most of the shelters that are mainly dogs are open places, and even if you want to heat them, there is nothing you can do. The shelter of the cat where Xiaobian is located is okay, because the cat does not need too much activity space, they are kept indoors, and the consumption generated by turning on the air conditioner or heating with gas every day is still acceptable 500-1000 yuan per month.
However, the room temperature is also maintained at most 15 °C, and most of the time, especially at night, the temperature is less than 10 °C at most. It’s still relatively cold. Every year in the cold winter, it will bring a heavy medical burden to the shelter, because when the temperature drops, cats and dogs are very prone to respiratory diseases.
And winter, is the high incidence season of canine plague cat plague cat nasal branches.
Popular science: Unlike bacterial diseases, viruses that cause viral diseases are most active in low temperature environments. For example, the herpes virus, which causes nasal branches in cats, loses its vitality when the ambient temperature reaches 36 ° C. Similarly, the virus that causes cat plague and canine plague is also active in a low temperature environment. This is why live vaccines are stored cryogenically. So you can understand: in the summer when the weather is hot, the shelter should focus on sterilization to prevent bacterial proliferation, and in winter, it should be mainly disinfected to prevent the spread of the virus.
Animals in shelters exposed to cold temperatures for a long time not only increase the risk of disease, but also develop symptoms such as frostbite, joint diseases and skin diseases. Spring is a season with a relatively large number of adoptions, and if the cats and dogs in the shelter cannot survive the winter healthily, it will also affect the adoption work in the spring. So how animal shelters survive the winter is particularly important.
If you have a shelter near you, you may wish to bookmark this practical shelter winter tip and share it with them.
Tips for wintering in animal shelters
1. Eating tips
In most shelters, in order to reduce consumption and reduce the hygiene burden caused by excretion, they usually only feed 6-8 minutes full. This not only does not starve them, but also protects their stomach (because many stray animals do not adapt quickly to dog food and cat food). But in winter, remind the operators of the shelter:
Be sure to feed plenty of food, especially dry food, especially before night.
The food fed in winter can not be too bad, choose some high-protein cat food dog food, you can add some Vc in the food if possible, the biggest purpose of this is to provide the dog with sufficient energy and fat.
Build a body with strong enough immunity to have the capital to survive the winter.
It is much more cost-effective to invest more on diet and nutrition in winter than to treat the disease when the time comes.
2. Tips for drinking water
If a shelter may not have the funds to prepare a lot of high-protein food for the winter, basic drinking water can certainly be achieved. Drinking water in winter shelters, both indoor and outdoor,
Can be fed some “warm water”
。 Because the food in winter is too cold, it is easy to cause acute enteritis and other digestive diseases, if the drinking water is too cold, the animal’s esophagus can not bear, and the dog drinks water quickly and more, drinking too much cold water at a time will definitely cause a burden on the body. that
How can the shelter ensure the temperature of the water for so many dogs? Here’s a very practical tip for everyone.
The cost of a dedicated thermostatic basin on the market is high, and the shelter does not have the funds to purchase it? it doesn’t matter
The combination of an aquarium-specific heating rod and a large basin is a very practical winter outdoor dog drinking artifact in the shelter.
All the shelter needs to do is find a well-shaped, large-capacity basin. And the aquarium heating rod is a thing, there is no need to worry about being licked by the dog to leakage electricity (after all, it is necessary to contact the fish in the water). This thing is both power-saving and practical, and is an artifact for large-scale outdoor dog breeding.
If you’re in a shelter for cats, just throw a small heating rod into the storage tank of a large pet water dispenser. (However, our environment here does not use this method, there is indoor air conditioning.) ）
In addition: adding a small amount of brown sugar to drinking water can also help survive the winter.
This is a good basin for winter dogs with heating rods for open air breeding
3. Small waste cardboard has a great effect
For stray dogs raised outdoors, artificial control of the ambient temperature is unlikely. In addition to the above two methods, there is also a cheap and practical way:
Use waste cardboard to isolate the cold from the ground.
Don’t look at the thin layer of waste cardboard is inconspicuous, the sandwich between the waste cardboard can be very effective in preventing the cold ground from directly contacting the dog’s body. Because
Air is a substance with very poor thermal conductivity, and the structure of cardboard makes the sandwich rich in air, which not only ensures that the dog does not lose heat when sleeping on the ground, but also prevents low temperature moisture from invading the dog’s body from the ground, causing joint diseases and skin diseases.
4. Disinfection work should be paid attention to
As mentioned earlier, shelters
“Focus on sterilization in summer and disinfection in winter”
Increasing the frequency of disinfectant use is a very effective way to reduce the risk of viral infection.
What can we do to keep animals safe through the winter?
Those little guys living on the streets once had their own homes, and I believe that many friends who keep pets at home see the snow and the shivering stray animals on the streets are also unbearable. If we want to help them, what can we do beyond the usual assistance of giving some delicious food, a little clean drinking water, and a few pieces of cardboard?
First of all: during the cold winter season, you can help adoption agencies call for adoption
This season, almost every stray animal shelter is full, and only if one is adopted, it is possible to accept another one. If it’s convenient for you, you can help your animal shelter advertise adoption more in the winter. If the shelter has its own new media platform, this time is also the time to focus on adoption, to free up more places, to receive more stray animals that need to be accommodated for the winter.
Second: If you have a small discarded quilt, you can donate it to your local shelter
Just like I said at the beginning that I will receive a small blanket made by my aunts every year, a small blanket may be worthless to you, but it can help 1-2 animals survive the winter. If you don’t have a small blanket at home, you can also give it to your local institution. Of course, if you like it, you can also make a small blanket out of cotton ~ you can also embroider your name on it~ It is also very fulfilling.
Third: Pay attention to the wheels and underbody when driving
In order to keep warm, stray animals sometimes have to force themselves to get under your car to use the residual heat to keep warm. There may be stray dogs sleeping under your car, stray cats sleeping on your wheels or even drilling into the hood. For the sake of your car, it is also best to pay attention before starting.
Stray animals, no matter how they are rescued and contained, are difficult to manage. The reason is that containment is not as fast as production. If you want to fundamentally eliminate the emergence of stray animals, please call on those around you to:
Pets are not abandoned.
It is believed that as society becomes more and more civilized, the norms of pet ownership become clearer and clearer, and the phenomenon of casual abandonment of pets will become less and less.
Epilogue: “Once, I also had a master who loved me; Once, I also had a small home to shelter from the wind and rain; Once, I also had a regular diet every day… But now, the master who used to love me the most, the owner who once bought me home, the doorway that I used to be familiar with, but my memory is becoming more and more blurred…” – from a lost dog
@青云计划