Dogs and cats in cold weather.

Apparently, someone (probably with questionable ethics) conducted a study to determine how low temperatures could go before these animals were at serious risk. They placed dogs and cats in an environment at +10°F without any protection from the wind (no wall), no water, and no food—and all of them died. I wouldn’t want to be those people’s kids at Career Day: “So, Bailey, what does your dad do?” “He figures out ways to kill dogs and cats.”

In a repeat of the study, they gave the animals just a single board to shelter against. Their survival time increased fourfold, but they still ultimately perished.*

* (I’m not sure if they let the animals actually die or simply removed them when it became clear they wouldn’t make it.)

Finally, when the animals had that board for shelter, plus food and unfrozen water, they all survived down to -10°F—and likely could have persisted even longer.

I learned this about 35 years ago in vet school while studying something called “heat increment,” which, as I recall, is the ability of animals to consume enough calories to maintain body heat. The study was mentioned to illustrate this point.

I was discussing this with a customer yesterday and explained that sometimes, you simply can’t bring a pet inside (especially if it’s not yours). But you can make a big difference by providing food and shelter. Even just a break from the wind makes a huge impact. Food nearly guarantees survival.

Think about a dog chained outside with no shelter, food, or water—even at +10°F, it’s in serious danger. But give that same dog a board to lean against, plus adequate food and unfrozen water, and it can handle the cold much better. Honestly, if I were the dog, I’d be tempted to bite that owner hard—right in the zipper—next time I saw him.