How to Prevent Your Pet's Water from Freezing

Using Electricity

Get a heated water bowl for an easy solution. This is the easiest way to keep your pet’s water from freezing. It's also great for animals of all sizes! You can find heated water bowls online, at pet stores, and at many agricultural supply stores. Simply plug the bowl in and fill it with water. With heated water bowls, you’ll have to refill the water more often because of evaporation. Introduce your pet to the heated bowl before the cold weather starts so that they’re used to drinking from it.

Run a small heater or heat lamp near the bowl for small pets. This is another easy way to heat the water, especially if the bowl is close to the house and under a roof. Simply plug in the heater or lamp and place the bowl about 6 to 10 in (15 to 25 cm) away. The heater will radiate enough heat to warm the bowl. Only do this on a covered porch or patio. Leaving a heater or lamp outside and uncovered can cause moisture to get into the electrical component and damage the machine. Keep an eye on your pet to make sure they don’t touch the heater or lamp, as this can cause burns.

Make a heated table for the bowl using a cinder block and a lightbulb in a coop. Place a cinder block on a flat surface and use clamps to secure a light bulb inside of one of the large holes in the block. Make sure the bulb is plugged in and working before you cover it! Then, cover the block with a stepping stone and place your bowl on top of the stone. The heat from the lightbulb will warm the underside of the stepping stone to keep the bowl warm. This is a great method for chickens because they will be able to jump onto the cinderblock to drink, and it won’t take up extra space in the coop. Check the bulb everyday to make sure it hasn’t burned out!

Preventing Freezing without Electricity

Use a rubber container as a bowl for animals of all sizes. Rubber is a better insulator than metal, so it will slow the freezing of the water. For best results, place a small rubber storage container in a sunny spot to let the sun warm the rubber. If it’s extremely cold outside, the water will still freeze, but this will keep you from having to walk outside to replace the water as often.

Put ping pong balls in the water for a DIY solution. Placing 2-3 ping pong balls in the water will cause ripples every time the wind blows. The little waves will keep the water from settling long enough to freeze. Your pet might be tempted to play with the balls, so be sure to keep an eye on them to make sure none of the balls go missing! If the surface of the water does freeze in extremely cold temperatures, simply remove the ping pong balls, crush up the ice, and replace the balls to restart the process.

Place a heating pad beneath a smaller bowl. Warm up a heating pad in the microwave for about 5 minutes and then place the bowl on top of the pad outside. This will keep the water heated for about 3 hours even in frigid temperatures. When first heating up the pad, do it in increments of 2-3 minutes to make sure that the heating pad can handle your microwave. Some heating pads can stay in the microwave for up to 8 minutes for maximum heat. This is best for short-term use, like cats or dogs who are going to be outside for only a few hours. Be careful when removing the pad from the microwave, as it will be hot!

Place a sealed bottle of salt water into larger bowls. Take an empty 20 fl oz (590 mL) plastic bottle and pour in ¼ of a cup of salt. Then, fill the rest of the bottle with water and seal it tightly. Place the bottle into the watering bowl so that it’s mostly submerged. Since salt water has a lower freezing temperature than pure water, it will stay warmer for longer and transfer some of its heat to the pure water. Never give your pets salt water! Make sure the cap on the bottle is sealed extremely tight, and keep an eye on your pets to make sure they don’t bite or scratch at the bottle.

Create insulation by using a tire and rocks for a large animal’s bowl. Take an old tire that is off its rims and set it on the ground in a sunny area. Then, fill the tire with 4 to 5 inches (10 to 13 cm) of rocks that are darker colors. Nestle the bowl into the center of the rocks so that the water level is even with the top of the rocks. The sun will heat the rocks and the tire will keep them warm for a longer period of time. The water will stay warm as long as the rocks are warm! This is best for cows and horses because they will be able to reach over the tire and the rocks to drink from the bowl. Smaller animals like cats and dogs might have trouble accessing the bowl.