Keep yourself, and your pets, safe in cold weather

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.-If you can stay inside, during these cold temperatures, please do it! 

Doctors say you can get frostbite in less than a half an hour. It starts with a prickling sensation, followed by pain.

“Your extremities, your fingers, your nose, your toes might all go numb along with the painful sensation they might go numb, and then you might lose the ability to feel or move them, that’s when you know you’re in trouble,” said Norton Hospital Emergency Medicine Physician Zach Harris, MD. 

When your entire body gets too cold, hypothermia is a concern. This happens when your body temperature falls below 95 degrees. 

“If you keep getting colder and it gets more severe you can stop shivering, which is bad because that’s your body’s defense mechanism against the cold, it can make you confused, maybe not making the best decisions,” said Harris. 

If you have to be outside to shovel or any other reason, wear layers.

“If you’re going to be doing anything exertional or getting sweaty, you need to make sure you don’t have cotton right on your skin because you’ll trap that moisture right in and you’ll get colder much faster,” said Harris. 

Make sure you are keeping your furry friends inside too! 

“Just because they have a fur coat does not mean that they are completely protected against the weather, they are still very susceptible,” said Bowling Green Warren County Humane Society Operations Manager Leah Lawrence. 

Lawrence says to keep walks to go to the bathroom as short as possible. 

“We recommend just a short potty break no more than 5-10 minutes and dry off their paws really well before you come back inside,” said Lawrence. 

All dogs shouldn’t be outside for long, but especially ones without long fur. 

“Your shorter coated dogs are a little bit more susceptible, plus elderly dogs, overweight dogs, and really small dogs are of course more susceptible,” said Lawrence. 

The humane society has dry straw and dog houses available if the community needs help for their pets during this weather.