Radio 2SM Breakfast Segment #17 with Kaye Browne

This week:
Kaye shares some key tips to keep pets happy, warm and pain-free over winter including food and grooming!


Plus...
What's the secret to chill-proofing indoor & outdoor dog-beds and what's re the alternative options to help pets deal with monster rain/storms?


Finally.. Dog-jackets – practical options to keep you and the pooch happy.


00'00" - Welcome Ron Wilson
00'06" - Winter Tips-Jackets/Grooming + Inside or Outside?
02'24" - Winter Diets - How Much Is Too Much?
03'52" - Storms & Rain - How to Keep Things Calm
05'43" - Best Doggy Jacket Materials + Raincoats
07'20" - Next Week - Why Do Dogs Have Tails!


FULL TRANSCRIPT:
RON: With the onset of these wintery conditions is the focus of our pet segment this week with Kaye Browne from VETtalk On-Hold... Kaye good morning!
 
KAYE: Good morning! - Have you got your winter gear out yet?

RON: I've got mine out and i'm thinking about what i've got to do for the dog uh it's a bit chilly out there it's a bit wet and I guess we have to make adjustments not just for ourselves but also for our pets we've dragged the old jackets out of the cupboard and of course they get longer fur at this time of year all of these things we need to to look at how do we change our care patterns for our pets as we get into these colder months?

KAYE: Ok... well the most important thing is if you're feeling the cold then your pet is feeling the cold. Cats are a bit better than dogs because they'll actually find a nice warm spot on top of the fridge whereas dogs rely on us quite a bit and although it's tempting to let them grow their hair long in winter please don't what happens for all the dogs that need to get groomed regularly I'm talking about all the oodles and various things and I've had Poodles and Bischons and goodness knows what, is if we leave them longer in winter they actually need more grooming and they can actually get quite matted especially if you accidentally leave the jacket on for a week at a time so it's really important to be putting the jacket on and taking it off. If the coolest time of the day is at night-time the jacket goes on at night or if you're going out for a walk but don't leave it on all the time because you can get terrible knots and then when you try to brush them out it actually hurts the dog's skin.

RON: I know with horses if you leave the horse blanket on the hair doesn't grow so long is that also the case with dogs?

KAYE: Unfortunately no!

RON: Okay well that's one problem we can't solve just by leaving the jacket on is there a difference the way you treat animals that are indoor and outdoor in these conditions?

KAYE: Definitely outdoor dogs definitely need to have a raised bed so if they've got a kennel set up then you need to put in a nice big block of foam you know the kind that you get at the supermarkets or you know the fruiterer put in layers so that it's going up a bit higher and make sure the beds bit raised so they're not on cold hard tiles or cement (RON: what a good idea!) and make sure that you then put in a nice comfortable bed inside. I had a relative whose dog actually preferred sleeping outside even in the cold weather but they did have an electric blanket for them!

RON: Oh yeah I would too! Now let's talk about diets during winter do we need to look at adjusting our pets diets as the winter cuts in? 

KAYE: It's interesting the vets and scientists have looked at this and they thought oh well you know perhaps animals and pets aren't as active during winter so they don't need to eat so much and that we should be cutting back, then they actually did some tests and found that in fact nutritional needs go up particularly for very young pets and older pets and let's face it, pets get older much quicker than we do so an older pet could be anything from five if it's a very large breed or eight if it's not quite such a big breed but yeah you need to just boost their nutrition look at what you're giving them and it's... you know I'm a huge fan of topping up with natural foods that we've cooked for ourselves some of the extra steamed veggies and things they can have sweet potato pumpkin very good pumpkin's very good for their intestines uh it helps stop them and it helps them go!... but very definitely a little bit more in the way of fatty meats as well don't be frightened of fat... dogs in particular and cats have a much shorter digestive system so they you know can digest things much quicker and they get the nutrients out much quicker as well so don't be frightened of increasing it. If they start getting a bit too cuddly well just trim it back a bit but I think you'll find that they'll do better with extra nutrition.

RON: