It’s time to get our houses spick and span, but what cleaning products can be harmful to our pets? Katie Cincotta reports.
The sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, and suddenly we’ve got energy for spring cleaning — time to pack away woolly jumpers, dust the furniture, vacuum under the bed and pile up all that stuff you haven’t used for years to donate to the op shop. Ritual house cleaning in spring is a great way to tidy up and make plans for the warmer weather, but it’s important to remember the risks to nosyparker fur kids.
Most of us get the house in order with a bucket-load of chemicals and cleaning products, which might be great for maximum shine but can be poisonous for our pets. We know how powerful those canine noses are, and we know how adventurous some cats can be in the garden, so here are some warnings from the AEC (Accident Emergency Centre) which treats many of the worst cases of animal poisoning at their eight clinics across Australia.
Cleaning products
AEC’s emergency vet Dr Kate Camillo says essential oils and some cleaning products such as turpentine and cleaning fluid are toxic if inhaled or swallowed by dogs and cats. It’s best to remember to keep those products on high shelves and always put the lids back on after using them. The vet hospital has also seen cases of pet poisoning where disinfectant and wood polish have been consumed by animals.
Mothballs
We put the little while balls in our drawers and wardrobes to keep moths and other critters from chewing holes in our clothes. But the ingredient in mothballs — naphthalene — is toxic. If your pooch or moggy has eaten one, symptoms include vomiting, pale gums, fast heart rate, rapid breathing and red-coloured urine — dangerous enough to cause liver and kidney failure.
Snail pellets
No commercial snail pellets are safe for pets to consume. Even those that market themselves as ‘safer’ for pets may still contain high quantities of elemental iron and are in fact toxic when ingested.
Dr Kate says snail pellets are cereal-based products so they may be attractive to pets regardless of whether a bitterant is added in those ‘pet-friendly’ pellets. Signs to look out for include depression, drooling, poor coordination, vomiting, diarrhoea, rapid breathing and seizures.
Rat poison
Nobody wants rats in the pantry or breeding in the garage, but nobody wants a sick pet either. Rat poison is one of the worst offenders when it comes to seriously life-threatening toxins. Sometimes it can take days to notice the signs — no appetite, weakness, trouble breathing. It can hurt dogs as well as cats and can be very expensive to treat as it can require weeks of monitoring and intravenous fluids.
Cleaning products and chemicals that are poisonous to pets
- Antifreeze
- Aromatherapy oils
- Bleach
- Boric acid
- Cleaning fluid
- Deodorants and deodorisers
- Detergent
- Disinfectants
- Furniture polish
- Herbicides
- Insecticides
- Metal polish
- Mothballs
- Rat poison
- Snail/slug bait
- Weed killer
- Wood polish
This article was originally published in PETS Magazine issue 60. For more pawsome advice and care, subscribe to our magazine here.
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