Daylight saving time and your pets

Daylight saving time brings an adjustment period for humans, but does it affect your pets as well?

Transcript

00:00 (phone ringing)

00:02 The end of daylight saving time means we fall back an hour

00:06 the first Sunday in November.

00:08 And for most humans, that means an extra hour of sleep,

00:11 but some extra stress during the adjustment period after.

00:14 But does this time change affect your furry friends as well?

00:17 - There are more important things to be concerned about

00:21 with an animal's health and welfare and behavior than this.

00:26 - Jerry Klein, Chief Veterinarian Officer

00:28 for the American Kennel Club,

00:30 says our pets have a much greater response to us

00:32 than to any changes in the time.

00:34 - The thing about animals,

00:36 especially the one they live with us in our home,

00:38 they're very sensitive to human cues.

00:41 So if we make a bigger deal out of it,

00:44 they may behave in a manner that may be more unusual.

00:49 - For humans, the time change can mean disruptions

00:51 in sleep patterns, appetite changes,

00:54 and some general overall stress

00:55 in the days following the change.

00:57 And how humans cope with the change

00:59 is more impactful on animals than the time change itself.

01:03 - If you're nervous, your nerves go down the lead.

01:05 In other words, they feel it, they sense it.

01:08 If you go about your everyday occurrence,

01:11 they usually are gonna acclimate themselves pretty quickly

01:14 to any changes in the environment.

01:16 - That said, there are things you can do for your pet

01:18 and even yourself.

01:19 Experts say gradually adjusting their feeding

01:21 and walking schedules or any other activities

01:23 your pet is used to doing at a certain time.

01:26 - If you wanna be super cautious,

01:28 you can make it a gradual change over 15, 20 minutes

01:32 to the week prior.

01:33 - Klein says animals are very quick to acclimate.

01:36 - That's what makes them so great.

01:38 - For AccuWeather, I'm meteorologist Tony Laubach.

01:41 [Snoring]