Decreased immunity, increased drowsiness, lack of vitamins - these phenomena are typical for many of our smaller brothers in the cold season. How to help animals in winter? This question is asked not only by the owners of dogs or cats. If your son found a homeless animal on the street and brought home, you should also know how you can help animals in winter.
Caring for homeless animals
Every day you can see a dirty, cold and hungry cat or dog basking on a manhole or heating pipe. Often such a “gift” is brought home by a child from a walk.
You don't have to be a veterinarian to know how to help animals in winter. In this situation, it would be useful to take care of your own he alth and the he alth of your family.
It is necessary to examine the animal. Signs of illness may include:
- damage to skin or coat;
- bald spots;
- discharge from eyes and ears;
- bloated belly.
If this is the case, then a trip to the clinic is indispensable.
Symptoms such as lethargy, loose stools,sneezing, require a detailed examination. Often homeless animals have a fungus, the presence of which can also be determined only by a doctor. It would be useful to measure the temperature, which in a he althy individual is 38-39 degrees. How to help animals in winter if a cat or dog has a high or low temperature? It is imperative to visit the clinic. A low temperature may indicate exhaustion.
Fleas will definitely be found on the animal. For such cases, veterinary pharmacies have a variety of tools that quickly and efficiently solve the problem. As a rule, these are sprays that are sprayed on the withers of an animal, or special impregnated collars.
It is difficult to determine the presence of parasites in an animal's body without tests at home. Here it is better to play it safe and give anthelmintics.
Find the owner…
How to help animals in winter if they are homeless? Of course, shelter. However, this is not always possible. So, the best option is to start looking for a host for a cat or dog. Place an ad in the media with a proposal to give in good hands, contact your friends who live in the private sector.
Is there a suspicion that the animal ran away from the owner? Look at the ads in the newspaper. When walking on the street, pay attention to the notice boards, maybe someone is looking for their pet.
In extreme cases, you can attach the animal to a shelter that specializes in finding owners. In no case should you let your dog or cat go outside again. The animal will lose the chance to find the owner and after a while will be in the same deplorable state.
Give a helping hand
How to help animals in winter, because it is impossible to warm everyone? The best way is to feed. Think about it, buying chicken bones or small fish will not hit the family budget, but it can save someone's life.
You are responsible for those you have tamed…
If you want to have a pet, the question of how to help animals in winter should be studied in advance.
Your pet will require good nutrition and vitamins. Heating in apartments and houses leads to the fact that animals begin to shed heavily. Regular walks and a balanced diet can alleviate this unpleasant process. Vitamin A, biotin, taurine and saturated fatty acids are excellent prevention of beriberi.
After walking, be sure to wash the paws of the animal, because the pavement sprinkles contain a chemical reagent that can cause burns.
With the onset of cold weather, domestic hamsters, chinchillas and guinea pigs begin to stock up on food. Regular inspection and cleaning of the cage will keep pets clean. In winter, germinated grains, vitamins and greens are added to the food for rodents.
Even fish in winter require increased attention. This is due to the decrease in daylight hours and cooling. Lowering the temperature in the room by 5-7 degrees can kill the fish, andlack of lighting makes them lethargic.
Poultry in the cold intensively molt, refuse to eat, do not tolerate the lack of lighting. Include minerals, amino acids, multivitamins in the diet of birds, place the cage near the lamp.
In reptiles in the winter, a complex restructuring of the whole organism takes place. Turtles and frogs, lizards and snakes all hibernate, slow down their metabolism, practically stop eating and reduce their mobility. To prepare such a pet for hibernation, it is necessary to gradually reduce the daylight hours in the terrarium, bringing it to 4 hours a day. Turtles during this period are fed once every four to five days, lizards and snakes - once a month.
How to help animals and birds in winter
If the winter is not snowy and not frosty, settled and wintering birds in the forests are able to take care of themselves. When particularly difficult weather conditions arise, they need to be fed: a third of the daily ration for birds is already salvation.
Nomadic birds not accustomed to feeders, such as bullfinch, blackbird, goldfinch, bunting, migrate in search of their main food. These are the fruits of trees and shrubs, weeds. Helping such birds in winter is simple: do not collect fruits from trees completely in autumn, leave berries on the branches.
There is an opinion that urban birds are able to feed themselves in the cold. This is not true. In winter, when there is no natural food, junk food is not the best option. And here, by the way, there will be feeders, wooden or plastic, placed in parks,squares and just in the yard.
What food should not be given to birds?
Dangerously s alty, because the peculiarity of the excretory system in birds is such that excess s alt causes poisoning in them. Fried foods are strictly prohibited, since such products change the structure of the feathered liver. Black bread causes bloating and fermentation. Peeled millet or grain should also not be given, the oxidation of fats on the surface of the grains leads to the fact that the birds get sick.
Feeding wild forest animals
Huntsmen know best how to help wild animals in winter. Deer and roe deer are fed with forest and meadow hay, grain, silage, root crops, and acorns. Hang branches of trees such as willow, aspen, birch. They are harvested from May to June. Wormwood is added to each such broom.
Moose ignore feeders, so food for them is piled up. Deer are also fed with branches of deciduous trees. The favorite delicacy of wild boars is roots and acorns. In the cold season, food is under snow and ice. How do people help animals in winter? Potatoes and corncobs are piled in one place in the fall, then the animals get used to the place of feeding. Moose, roe deer and deer need mineral supplements. With a deficiency of table s alt, the animal loses its strength, its metabolism worsens, horns and wool grow poorly. S alt licks are arranged for them in a stump, cutting down a funnel.
As you can see, helping animals in the cold season is not at all difficult.
