This is one of my favorite topics on this site. I live in Alaska and it’s definitely winter up here, especially this week. Yesterday we got up to a high of 1 degree F, today, we’re sitting at 18 degrees F. Many of you have seen my other articles covering winter apparel for pets, but today I want to dive in deeper.
In the past, I’ve written topics on dogs in coats, sweaters, vests, etc., but dogs aren’t the only pets out there. I’ve seen some social media posts lately on people asking about lizards even. I actually have a Bearded Dragon, believe it or not. Do I dress her up in apparel? Mmm, not so much. Could I? I imagine I probably could.
What about the cat lovers out there? Don’t cats count when it comes to clothing? Absolutely! If I solely focus on dogs all the time, then I’m doing my fans a disservice by not mentioning their pets.
Cats in Winter Apparel.
I’ve had a lot of readers comment that they take their cats outdoors with them. I have one gal that mentioned that she takes her cats for walks with a stroller. Yes, I wrote an article about that actually. Some cats love to go outdoors and some might need to stay warm. Not all cats are long haired cats, and if your cats are like mine, they might need sweaters if it’s really cold.
For a long time, I thought about getting a furless cat. In order to take care of these special cats, they have to be protected. The furless cats are exactly what they sound like – they have NO fur. So, if you’re wondering whether they need protection; well, walk outside naked and tell me how you feel. If you’re cold, they’re cold.
It’s not necessarily winter in all places either. So this article will mainly pertain to those that live in cold climates. If you’re in Florida where its balmy year round, well, you don’t count! But like us in Alaska, we have to keep our pets warm.
What About Lizards?
My husband was telling me at one time, that he would take his Bearded Dragon for walks outside. It makes sense actually. Bearded Dragons have an odd personality. They remind me of a cross between a dog and a cat in how they act. If we let our Dragon out, she’ll run around the living room and actually come to us. She has long claws that I have to usually trim every few months. She uses these claws to climb furniture to be close to us.
She also is very attentive to what’s going on. I will say, she’s not a fan of the bigger dogs, but couldn’t care less about the small dogs when she’s out.
You can also get harnesses for them to walk them. I don’t recommend this in the winter, so please don’t. Dragons are cold-blooded and need a lot of warmth. Normally, if we take her out with us, she’s in our hoodies to stay warm. Yes, we take her out with us. Not as often as Atlas mind you, but we still take her out. Could we put her in a sweater? Sure, I’d imagine we could.
All Pets Can Wear Apparel.
Almost all pets can wear clothing. The exception to this would be snakes. I’ve never seen a snake in a sweater unless you cut a hole in a long sock and put them in it. Might have a hard time getting them in there though. You’re better off putting them in your hoodie. My daughter used to do this with the snake we had for years.
For the other pets out there, pet clothing makers make clothing for all kinds of pets. Some people have hamsters and love them dearly. My niece used to have rats and loved them. I couldn’t…. Rats. Ew.
As for our Bearded Dragon, she’s pretty small but very fat. I could probably get an XX Small sweater that fits my small Chihuahua and put it on her just fine. I might even video that just for the purposes of this article. See if it works.
Just because I love my dogs doesn’t mean the other pets don’t count. All pets need winter apparel in the cold months. All people love their pets, regardless of the fur they have, the size they are, or what they are. They deserve warmth.
Keeping Pets Warm in Cold Months.
As I mentioned, in the cold months all pets should be taken care of. It’s not just about dogs on this site, I love all pets equally. Okay, maybe not rats. Sorry, I just can’t. But they might mean the world to you! So, get them a sweater. If you have a Dragon like we do, their legs go down towards the ground, similar to a dog’s. When they’re laying in their tank, their legs are spread out, but that’s just because of how they lay.
If you’ve never watched a Dragon run across the floor, all four legs lift them up and off they go. They’re actually very fast when they want to be.
When it comes to cats, any small dog clothing will work as well. I actually used to dress my male cat up all the time. Yes, he would give me the death stare, but he got over it. I would just pick him up and cuddle him more and he’d be fine in minutes. If your cat goes outdoors like mine did, try out a sweater on them and see what they think. If you have a female cat, well, good luck. Probably best you leave them alone.
Final Thoughts on Winter Apparel for Pets.
As you can see, it’s not just about dogs. Yes, dogs go outside with people all the time. But there are a lot of non-dog lovers, especially the cat lovers. I don’t want to discredit the cat lovers out there. If you have hamsters or gerbils, you might have a harder time finding clothing for them, I will admit. If my kids had hamsters, I’m sure I would have a harder time with clothing.
Honestly, I would probably tell them to leave the gerbils in the cage. Larger pets are easier to keep track of when they’re out. Small animals, not so much.
I had hamsters as a child and I recall them being very small. I do have some memories of them being out on the table and crawling into the oven mitts to keep warm. I think all animals up here will do just about anything to stay warm. That’s probably why my pets love their winter apparel so much.
What kind of pets do you have and what do you do to keep them warm?
