A Festive Wednesday With Astrid

It's the Sixth Day of Christmas, and we're of course still celebrating the holiday season over here. We always extend the season through the Twelve Days of Christmas, each and every year. We're sorry to anyone who is already over Christmas, but we're not done with it over here.

So, what festive something or other do we have for you today? It's a festive little photo from pup Astrid.

That is indeed Astrid's Christmas sweater. What's more, this photo was taken on Christmas Day. Astrid was watching as this here human's parents, Astrid's beloved Pawpaw and Gammy, approached our house. They live just down the street from us, so they always walk to our house. Astrid loves seeing them come down the street. Do you see her tail wagging in this photo? She couldn't wait to give her Pawpaw a tackle of a hug.

Merry Sixth Day of Christmas!

P.S. As someone who has extreme fondness for anything that makes an animal specially abled, I was excited when I realized after I took this photo that it shows off Astrid's 3-toed foot. As many of you might remember, Astrid had the outer toe of her hind right foot amputated back in 2017, in order to remove a cancerous tumor. Do you see her 3-toed foot? Isn't it adorable? I love it.

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Festive Flashback Doodle of the Day

We're finally going to be sharing some more brand new Christmas doodles starting tomorrow, for the final week of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Until tomorrow, though, here's another festive flashback doodle. This one is from 2018. More specifically, it was the one I created for New Year's Eve 2018.

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Tip of the Day

Today's tip on winter feral care is to remember to put water out for ferals and strays you care for. This sounds and often feels impossible, given that water freezes in cold temperatures. However, it is often possible to make water accessible to ferals or strays even in the winter months. Yesterday's tip discussed ways to successfully feed moist food to ferals in the winter, and most of those methods will also work for water. You can start by simply checking the water as often as possible, and removing ice or refreshing the water to ensure that it remains a liquid and not a frozen solid. You can also warm the water bowl, or even put out warm water, to delay its freezing. Other options include putting microwavable heat pads beneath the water bowl, using an electric heated bowl, or using another heat source in the area where the water is kept. With all such options, though, always keep safety in mind, and only choose and use heated products that best prevent burns and fires.

There are a couple of other considerations to make when putting water outside for ferals and strays in the winter months. To begin, as is possible, try to keep water bowls elevated off of the cold ground, to help keep it from freezing rapidly. In addition to this, using a deep bowl inside of a wide bowl will also help it to freeze less rapidly. Another option is to have a source of running water, such as by offering water in some sort of fountain, as moving water does not as easily freeze. And yet another way to help keep water from freezing rapidly in the winter is to put the bowl in the sun.

It also important to note that, as is possible, try to avoid putting water near where ferals or strays might sleep. This is because spills can indeed happen, and damp bedding material can make warmth and comfort difficult. So, there are many considerations to make when successfully offering water to ferals and strays in the winter months, but it is indeed possible, and of course also beneficial to them and their health.