All animals, but particularly cats, are susceptible if they ingest common antifreeze. How to protect them – and how to spot suspected poisoning – is explained by Leanne Garrett RVN ISFMDipFN

It is important to remember at this time of year that screen wash and other antifreeze solutions contain the very toxic chemical Ethylene glycol. Ethylene glycol is used to prevent freezing, most commonly used in cars but can also be found in paints and even in ornamental snow globes!
This chemical is extremely toxic to all animals (including humans!) but cats are more susceptible due to their metabolic differences.

This metabolic difference in cats means that even when a very small amount is ingested it causes very rapid and fatal injury to the kidneys which can result in death.

Cats are weird. They like it.

Cats are most commonly exposed when it has leaked into a puddle, been spilled when topping up car fluid levels or drained into a container in a garage. Cats can also be poisoned by drinking rain water that collects in a vessel that previously contained antifreeze.

Unfortunately, ethylene glycol is super tasty to cats, which is why it is so important to be vigilant and take extra care when using the chemical. It should only ever be used in closed systems (such as car engine coolant systems). Any coolant drained from cars needs to be disposed of carefully in tightly closed containers. Any spillages should be cleaned and mopped up thoroughly. Bottles containing ethylene glycol should be stored carefully and tightly closed.
If you are worried that your cat may have ingested ethylene glycol you should take your cat to the vet immediately! – the sooner medical treated is started the better chance of survival.

Signs of antifreeze poisoning:

• Increased urination • Increased drinking • Vomiting
• Depression
• Lethargy (being abnormally sleepy)
• Appearing drunk and uncoordinated • Seizures (fitting)
• Abnormally fast heartbeat
• Very fast, shallow breathing

How to avoid accidental poisonings:

• Never add antifreeze to garden water-features or ponds.
• Always keep antifreeze in clearly labelled, robust, sealed containers, away from pets and their environment.
• Clean up any spills immediately, no matter how small, and make sure pets cannot access the area until it is clean and safe.
• Always dispose of antifreeze safely – contact your local authority for advice.

Now is the time for cleaning hedgehog houses and ensuring they are not confused when they wake in the spring, says Jeanette Hampstead.

I am often asked when hedgehog houses should be cleaned out. Well, the time is now! Hedgehogs that are going to hibernate are probably well asleep by now so it’s an ideal opportunity to have a little look.

Gently, and as quietly as possible, open the lid of the hedgehog house and part the nesting material. If there is a hedgehog in residence they will probably jump or make a hissing noise. If that happens just replace the nest! You could put some more hay in as well, then quietly replace the lid and withdraw.

Try to put the house back into the same position so the waking hedgehog knows exactly where it is and can find the food you leave out for it.
If the house is empty remove all the nesting material and insects. I clean mine with bleach and animal cleaning spray to remove any ticks or mites that reside unseen in the cracks and crevasses. Rinse well with water – from a hose is best. Allow to dry completely before replacing the hay back into the house.

How to deter cats

Any old or broken houses could be used as feeding stations. By putting hay in the entrance tunnel, you may deter cats from pushing through to the food; they often do not like the feel of it on their whiskers.

Where to place a hedgehog house is personal choice – I usually put mine under a bush or hedge with the entrance facing into the overgrown area to give it some protection from the weather. Having said that, we have had hedgehogs nesting in houses placed in the middle of the lawn, and even in an upside- down house waiting to be cleaned in a pile of dirt houses! Hedgehogs nest wherever they feel comfortable, and do not appear to realise there are any rules they should be sticking to.

It’s not dead!

Just as an aside; if you open a hedgehog house and you find a hedgehog that is not moving or making a noise, do not automatically think it is dead. A hibernating hedgehog is really cold. Dead cold. They are colder than freezing. It may be that they are so well asleep they are not aware of their surroundings, so replace the nesting material and the lid. Leave them alone to wake in the spring.

I sometimes put some newspaper on the top of the old hay to soak up the tiny bit of condensation the sleeping hedgehogs produce but it is not necessary.

Keep feeding

Feeding in winter is also a personal choice. I stop feeding wet cat food in jelly and just give dry food when the weather becomes cold. Wet food freezes, whereas dry cat biscuits do not. There is no need to crush, soak or break the biscuits. Crunching them is really good for hedgehog teeth so just feed them as they are.

Continuing to give the food into a feeding station helps those waking early from hibernation. Also they know where to find food if it is left in the same place regularly. Research has shown that hedgehogs can wake up as many as seven times over a winter. It is thought they wake because they are hungry, thirsty or have a full bladder. Some wake to move house too.

The Hazelbury Bryan Hedgehog Rescue has been incredibly busy in 2021; we are currently making provisions to buy a new incubator as two is often not enough. Funding help is much needed – if you are able to contribute you can donate via our paypal account here.

by Jeannette Hampstead

‘I was shocked when I heard a loud gurgling sound as I took the bins out one night – but was delighted when I saw what it meant’, says Jane Adams.

I first heard the gurgling when I was putting the recycling out.
It was a dark, wet night, and as I dragged the bin to the curb, the sound grew louder. I wondered if the sewer under the lawn was blocked again, and sighed. Poking rods down the drain hadn’t been a pleasant experience.

Weirdly, when I returned with a torch, the sound had stopped. But waving a light around the garden, its beam came to rest on something unexpected; eighty glistening frog eyes. And as I stared back, their gurgling and croaks restarted.

The possibly-wrong pond

We’d dug a pond the previous autumn. Friends had helped. Dreams of dragonflies flying round the garden had spurred us on. At 2×1 metres, the pond was small. But it had a shallow and a deep end, and a liner, and we’d thrown in a few native aquatic plants. We weren’t sure if what we were doing was right, but it was worth a go.

I hadn’t given frogs much thought until then. Well, you don’t, do you?
And yet ‘common frogs’ are far less common than their name suggests. Slug and snail killing pesticides have cleared many gardens of the common frogs’ biggest food source. Imported diseases have weakened and killed them. And, in the UK, we’ve lost 500,000 ponds in the last century. Is it any wonder common frog numbers have been falling for over 40 years?

The start of something good

That year, the first year I saw them, February started icy cold, then turned to drizzle; the cue frogs need to emerge from the undergrowth and spawn. For a few days, our previously lifeless pond had overflowed with sex crazed frogs, and their clumps of spawn filled the shallows. Local frogs had needed a pond, and I hadn’t even realised.
Fourteen years later, that same small pond is now the wildlife hub of our garden. Mammals and birds use it to drink and bathe. Dragonflies, damselflies, newts, and toads lay their eggs amongst its weeds.

And, as I drag the recycling out to the curb, and February’s drizzle descends, I smile at the sound of gurgling.

How you can help your local frogs:

• Add a pond; they prefer one 2m across, but even a tiny ‘pond in a pot’ helps
• Provide piles of rocks, logs and leaves; spaces to shelter from predators, shade in hot summers and for food foraging
• Avoid using pesticides and slug pellets; an unwanted garden pest is welcome food for frogs and toads, and the chemicals may be harmful

click here for more tips

By Jane Adams – Naturalist. bTB Badger Vaccinator. Nature writer. Photographer. Bee Watcher.