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Pets in the cold
Pets cannot plan and cannot tell you they are cold. Most of what they need is what you need, counted separately and stored ahead.
By Walter Wolf · Updated November 2026
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In short
- Store two weeks of pet food and water. A medium dog drinks about a litre a day.
- Keep pets in the room you are living in. If you are cold, they are cold.
- Fish, reptiles and birds are at risk within hours when heat and pumps stop.
- If you leave, the pets leave with you. Find out now which places take them.
- Never leave a pet in a cold car or outside.
Food and water
- Two weeks of their normal food, in a sealed container. A sudden change of food upsets stomachs at a bad time.
- Water: roughly 50 to 60 millilitres per kilogram of body weight a day. That is about a litre for a 20 kg (45 lb) dog and a quarter litre for a cat. Add it to your household total.
- A manual can opener if they eat canned food.
- Medicines, with at least two weeks on hand, and a note of the doses.
- Litter, bags and cleaning supplies. You may not be able to take a dog out as usual in a storm.
Warmth
Keep animals in the room where the people are. Give them bedding lifted off the cold floor and a blanket they can burrow under. Small, short-haired, very young and very old animals feel it first.
Watch for shivering, whining, slow movement, curling up tightly and cold ears or paws. A pet that is weak, stiff or hard to wake needs a vet.
- Do not leave pets outside or in an unheated garage or car.
- Keep outdoor trips short in deep cold, and wipe paws afterwards. Road salt and antifreeze are both dangerous if licked off.
- Keep pets away from any heater, and never leave one alone in a room with an open flame.
Fish, reptiles, birds and small animals
These are the pets most at risk, because they rely on powered heat, light and pumps.
- Fish: without a pump the water loses oxygen, and without a heater it cools. Wrap the tank in blankets, do not feed (it fouls the water), and stir the surface by hand now and then. A battery air pump is cheap insurance. See battery aquarium air pumps on Amazon.
- Reptiles: move them to a small carrier in the warmest room, wrapped in a blanket. Wrapped chemical hand warmers placed outside the container can help. Ask your vet now what your species can tolerate.
- Birds: move the cage to the warm room, away from drafts and windows, and cover it with a blanket at night. Birds are extremely sensitive to fumes, so they are the first to be harmed by any fuel-burning heater.
- Rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters: extra bedding, a covered cage, the warm room.
A small power station will run an aquarium heater or a reptile heat mat for a while. Check the watts first.
If you have to leave
If it is not safe for you, it is not safe for them. Take pets with you. Many emergency shelters and warming centres do not accept animals, so find out now:
- Which friends or family could take you and your pets
- Which hotels outside your area accept animals
- Whether your town runs a pet-friendly shelter
Keep a small go-bag for each pet: carrier or leash, three days of food and water, bowls, medicines, vaccination records, a recent photo, and something that smells like home. Make sure tags and microchip details are up to date.
Livestock and outdoor animals
Animals that live outside still need unfrozen water, extra feed and shelter from wind. Heated waterers stop when the power does, so plan to carry water or break ice twice a day.
Sources
Official guidance this page was checked against. If your local authority says something different, follow them.