Is pine shavings good for dog bedding?
What is the warmest bedding for a dog? A better choice is pine or cedar shavings. Shavings of this kind are soft, comfortable to lie on, absorb moisture and help control odor. Wood shavings are also environmentally safe, easy to dispose of and naturally repel fleas and other insects.
Are pine shavings safe for dogs?
A better choice is pine or cedar shavings. Shavings of this kind are soft, comfortable to lie on, absorb moisture and help control odor. Wood shavings are also environmentally safe, easy to dispose of and naturally repel fleas and other insects. Never use wood shavings of any kind with pregnant dogs or newborn puppies.
Concerns with pine shavings and cedar chips
Pine and cedar shavings became popular as materials for pet beddings because they contain some natural insecticide properties (cedarwood shavings can repel or kill bugs and lice) and are good at controlling odor.
These wood shavings are not only soft, but they smell nice due to some volatile compounds like phenols, aromatic hydrocarbons that are given off.
However, it is unfortunate that these compounds, famous for their sweet smell and other good qualities, have been discovered to pose a potential health risk to your pet.
Especially the risk of getting one of these respiratory issues: Inflammation, asthma, allergic response, and even dangerous changes in their liver.
Most of the reviews on wood toxicology over the years have been conducted primarily on human beings who are in one way or the other exposed to these woods or their by-products in the industry of wood products ( like people who work in lumber mills, for example as they are exposed to plenty of wood dust).
Most of these studies have compared the incidence of infections and diseases in the wood product industry to workers from other industries.
It is, however, evident that these studies are entirely different from what our pets have to deal with since they are not exposed to breathing in milled wood and dust particles.
The studies carried out to discover what influence these wood shavings have on pets have shown that animals housed on cedar beddings experience changes in their liver enzymes.
These liver enzyme changes can, in turn, affect the metabolism of medications in the animal’s liver and anesthetics.
However, such information isn’t available on a connection between these changes and clinical or disease symptoms.
The discovered liver enzymes are problematic for guinea pigs and other research animals, but their impact on pets has not been adequately studied.