Can Cleaning Your Home Harm Your Pet? What You Should Know.
Each year thousands of pets in British Columbia are either brought into an emergency veterinary clinic or die as a result of accidental poisoning around the home. The numbers are alarming, especially when you consider that in many cases the causes of poisoning are from simple household products that are used for cleaning.
But what is good for the owner can be deadly for a pet. Keep reading to learn how a little knowledge can help save your pet from accidental ingestion and to learn how Jet Pet Resort keeps its facility squeaky clean without using any harsh chemicals.
Intended to keep our lives safe and healthy by maintaining a clean environment, many household products are often highly poisonous to living tissue if a dog or cat eats or becomes otherwise exposed to the chemicals in the cleaner. There are literally hundreds of home cleaners available to consumers. Items such as bleach, detergents, toilet bowl cleaners, caustics (Drano™, Ajax™), pine oils and many others.
Read more about which cleaning products are safe.
These cleaners can harm your pet by:
- Absorbing into your pet’s bloodstream and causing generalized illness.
- Harm or destroy your pet’s tissue on contact by acid or alkaline burns.
- Dissolving through tissue membranes.
Pine oils and electric dish-washing detergents particularly tend to be quite toxic although the range of chemicals included in cleaning products can cause signs varying widely from:
- Mild local irritation (many detergent soaps).
- Deep penetrating tissue damage (alkaline products).
- Severe systemic disease (pine oils and others).
Ultimately, the best remedy is prevention.
- Keep pets out of newly cleaned areas to avoid paw injuries from walking in the newly applied cleaning solution and mouth burns from the animal then grooming itself.
- Keep all cleaners tightly closed when not in use to prevent accidental spills and ingestion.
- Be aware of the possible dangers of toilet bowl cleaners from dogs and cats who consider the toilet just another water bowl!
In case of accidental exposure to any cleaning product, it is generally recommended to flush the skin (or mouth) with plain water to wash away remaining chemicals, and then call into your veterinary clinic for further instructions.
The Jet Pet Resort Difference
Jet Pet Resort is proud to be the first (and as far as we know the only) pet hotel, daycare and pet spa in Canada to be 100% chemical-free. We utilize the Lotus Pro™ water system to go far beyond simply being a ‘green’ company.
Our water system is 100% non-toxic and allows us to clean, sanitize and deodorize virtually every surface in one step. There is no residue or harmful vapours and the chances of your pet developing skin irritations from a harsh chemical are all but eliminated. We take great pride in creating not only a clean space but offering a truly safe environment for your pet during their stay at Jet Pet Resort.
Read more about how plants in your home could be toxic to your pet.