Cleaning your pets
Updated: 2014-12-28 05:28
By Wang Zhenghua(Shanghai Star)
|
|||||||||
Keeping your pets clean is a good way to keep them healthy, but with the colder weather it is important to ensure getting your best friend wet doesn't also give them a winter chill. Wang Zhenghua reports.
Winter's chill has taken hold of Shanghai, bringing with it special grooming concerns for pet owners. Bathing duties do not take a break during the chilly season, however, baths can be less frequent.
Baths are essential in winter to keep your companion from turning into a muddy mess, but owners must take special precautions to keep their animals warm and healthy.
Here are some tips on how to keep your cats and dogs clean in winter while making sure they don't get too cold.
Cats
A warm bath in winter is essential to keep your cat clean and pretty and to eliminate tangles in it's hair. But improper warming measures could give your pet a chill with sneezing, a runny nose and even a fever.
To eliminate the possibility of hypothermia, use very warm water, about 40 C, for your animal in cold weather.
Cooler water is acceptable for summer baths, but warmer water during the winter months will ward off chills. Place your hands in the water to test the temperature; if it’s too hot for comfort, add a little cold water to protect your cat’s skin.
After the bath, wrap your cat in a towel that is highly absorbent. Rub the animal vigorously to remove as much water as possible from its coat.
Pay careful attention to the cats head and belly which are most likely to get cold if soaked.
Blow-dry your cat thoroughly. Blow-drying warms and fluffs the coat, keeping the animal warm as it dries. Hold the animal with one hand and run the blow dryer back and forth along the body, holding the dryer nozzle at least six inches away from its skin to prevent burns.
Combing the coat as you blow dry the body can speed up the drying process. It also prevents your kitty from eating too much hair when it licks its body after the bath.
The bath should take place in a properly warmed space. In Shanghai, where central heating is not available for most families, a fan heater, electric oil heater or bathroom heater are good options to keep you and your pet warm.
Other tips to keep your animal warm include choosing the warmest period of a day to give her a bath and limiting its activity until it is completely dry. Keep your animal in a small and warm space after its bath until it is dry from head to toe.
- Cartoons capture 10 major China stories of 2014
- Thirsty Beijing receives water from the south
- China's first 'bullet train ambulance' unveiled
- Students sit for artistic future
- A day with new consul general in San Francisco
- Chinese dancer joins Nutcracker
- Across America Over the Week (Dec 19 -Dec 25)
- Ten high-level executives under investigation
Most Viewed
Editor's Picks
Jack Ma's bodyguard: master of tai chi |
Pilot in deadly China crash appeals prison term |
Two arrested in cash spill case in HK |
Suspects nabbed in China "AIDS demolition team" scandal |
Yearender: What happened around the globe in 2014 |
Boy with HIV assured of care, education |
Today's Top News
China's small schools go digital
Louis Vuitton belt brings down Chinese official
Xi gives full backing to HK system
Mega project brings water from south to Beijing
Famous Chinese singer detained over drug abuse
Don't ignore own culture for Xmas, schools tell students
Christmas a day for Chinese food in US
China urged to tap Canada's talent
US Weekly
Geared to go |
The place to be |