How to Keep Cats and Horses Safe This Winter

Fur coats help, but they are not enough on their own. Cats and horses both depend on us to spot the real risks of cold weather before they turn into an emergency. This is the second post in our winter safety series. Part one covers winter dog grooming tips; this one covers cats and horses.

If your cat spends any time outside in winter, keep it short and watch how they react to the cold. Avoid letting them out during the coldest parts of the day or night. Domestic cats, unlike feral ones, are not built to handle a full winter outdoors, and a family cat should never be left outside all winter, even with a shelter available.

Cats are especially prone to frostbite on their ears, nose, tail, and toes. Affected areas will look pale or bluish-white. If you notice this, get your cat to a vet right away.

Shivering outdoors is a sign your cat needs to come inside immediately, since it can progress to life-threatening hypothermia. Towel-dry them fully, including their paws and between their toes. Unusual anxiety, crying, or lethargy can also signal hypothermia. If your cat does not stop shivering within a reasonable amount of time once warmed up, call or see your vet.

Check between your cat’s toes for frozen snow, ice, dirt, or rock salt. You do not want them licking any de-icing chemicals off their paws. While you are checking, look for cracks or cuts too. A gentle massage of petroleum jelly or olive oil into the paws and between the toes helps with both. Avoid cortisone cream, tea tree oil, or other essential oils on a cat’s paws without checking with your vet first.

If dry winter air is leaving your cat’s skin flaky or itchy on top of this, we cover full remedies for that separately in our guide to winter pet skin issues.

Holly and mistletoe are toxic to cats, and to dogs. Keep both out of reach during the holidays.

Horses need access to a barn or, at minimum, a three-sided structure during winter. A well-fitted blanket helps keep a horse warm and dry in rain, ice, or freezing rain, but a wet horse should never be blanketed. Body-clipped horses need blanketing through the season, and very young, very old, or thin horses, generally a body condition score of 3 or lower, usually need one too. We cover the full decision in detail in our horse blanketing guide.

Horses need more water in winter, not less, to help prevent both dehydration and colic. Heated buckets, tank heaters, or de-icers keep water from freezing. University of Minnesota Extension recommends keeping water between 45 and 65°F, since horses drink noticeably less from water that is too cold. Snow and ice are not adequate substitutes for liquid water.

Use the Henneke Body Condition Scoring system to track weight changes accurately through the winter, when a heavy coat can hide weight loss at a glance. The chart below shows the full 1-to-9 scale.

Feeding more forage, even free-choice, helps a horse generate more body heat and regulate temperature through digestion. If your horse needs special care during summer, keep that same care going through winter too.

Horses are prone to ringworm, lice, and mites in winter. The Horse covers these in more detail. If it is dry, itchy winter skin you are dealing with rather than parasites or fungus, our dry skin herbs guide covers that separately.

Keep up routine hoof care through the winter too: trimming every 6 to 12 weeks, and daily picking to clear packed snow or ice.

Regular grooming helps you catch these problems early, whether it is a cat’s paw pads or a horse’s coat and skin. The 5″ EquiGroomer works well for a quick check-over on cats during paw and coat inspections, and the 8″ EquiGroomer makes it easy to work through a horse’s winter coat without disturbing the topcoat, so you notice changes in condition before they become a bigger problem.