Millions of people are at home now in the midst of a pandemic, disinfecting and cleaning, taking cold and flu medications—with the potential they might unwittingly poison their pets.
The easiest way to keep your pets safe and healthy as you try to keep yourself that way? Keep pets out of the room when you are cleaning. Do not leave disinfectants or cold and flu medications unattended. After you have used them, store them in a place that pets cannot reach. If you wet floors or counters with disinfectants and cleaners, keep pets away until they dry. Ideally, rinse floors with water.
In January, even before the COVID-19 crisis, a popular disinfectant in the United Kingdom made the news when a dog walked across a wet, newly cleaned floor, licked her paws and was poisoned (she survived). Hodges says she has also seen a number of pets with contact dermatitis likely caused by potent carpet and floor cleaners.
The cleaning products consumers have carried home from stores, stripping shelves bare, can kill the virus that causes COVID-19 but can just as easily sicken or even kill dogs and cats. Cleaners with powerful odors that promise results should alert pet owners, particularly cat owners, to danger, experts say. The ingredients that make disinfectants effective make them toxic for companion animals: alcohol, bleach, hydrogen peroxide, chemical compounds that contain the word “phenol,” etc.
“If you are washing the floor and the phone rings and you pick it up and go sit on the couch to talk, your dog or cat could be playing with that water, knocking it over, licking it,” Hodges says. “When you’re cleaning, you should only be cleaning.”
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Bleach Poisoning?
The ultra-concentrated bleach will cause chemical burns and lesions both internally and externally. Color-safe bleach generally causes vomiting, and if it has a high concentration, blood might appear, Wismer says.
For the majority of cases, which involve household bleach that has been diluted in water, symptoms begin within minutes. These include heavy drooling (especially in cats) and redness and irritation on the skin and in and around the mouth. Hovda says you may also notice your pet pawing at her mouth or in other ways acting abnormally. Vomiting is less common in these cases, but for the Labrador-type pets who consume a lot, it may come back up.
Cases involving ultra-concentrated bleach are emergencies. If you think your pet has consumed or been topically exposed to concentrated bleach or has potentially gotten any type of bleach in her eyes, you should consult a veterinary professional immediately.
Exposure to diluted household bleach and color-safe bleach can sometimes be treated at home. If the irritation is limited to the skin, give your dog a long bath with lots of water and a little bit of dog shampoo or mild dishwashing soap, Hovda says. Pets who have ingested a small amount of color-safe bleach will usually vomit a few times and then return to normal.
If your dog or cat drank some bleach and is drooling but not vomiting, you want to encourage him to drink to rinse off any bleach that is still in contact with the lining of his gastrointestinal tract. This is easier for dogs, who usually eat and drink anything you put in front of them, than it is for cats. Hovda suggests using a little bit of tuna water to make it more appealing for cats to drink. Giving your dog or cat a small bowl of milk can also encourage him to drink and help neutralize any bleach that is still present.
For most of these cases, the symptoms should subside 30 to 45 minutes after treatment, Hovda says. If they do not, it’s best to consult your vet who can evaluate your pet’s condition and, if necessary, prescribe medications to relieve discomfort and help the lining of the gastrointestinal tract heal.
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Did this guy eat your sugarless gum?