Winter Safety for Your Pet’s Paws?
The snow bomb has dropped in Chicagoland and along with it comes that slippery substance our dog walkers in avoid like the plague… ice.
While our pet care staff in Chicago’s Eastside suburbs is ready to roll in our ice pick shoes and puffy coats, you just want to get in and out of your house without falling down the stairs. When it comes to combating ice, what is your poison? Do you run for a bag of traditional rock salt, or do you look for a safer alternative?
Who Still Uses Rock Salt?
According to Safe Paw (which is Prissy and Portia’s product of choice), 60% of American households use rock salt and salt-based ice melt products during the cold winter months. An alarming 62% are unaware of the health dangers associated with the use of these products.
Pet Safety & Salt
Rock salt and other salt-based ice melters contain sodium chloride or potassium chloride which can heat up to 175 degrees when exposed to water, ice, and low temperatures.
The problem is that when dogs are let out they frolic and eat the snow and many of the ice melt products sit on the surface of the ice. Dogs either ingest these ice melt pellets or they get frozen into their paws. Later on when they are inside the house in higher temperatures, the ice melts and dogs begin to lick their paws. The salt can heat up as high as 175 degrees and not only burn their skin and paws but their mouth and digestive system. Salt can also burn and irritate children’s eyes and skin and cause internal problems if swallowed according to pediatricians.
If is also not so great for the environment. Salt residue can cause damage to pavers, asphalt, concrete, wood decks, floors and rugs. It also seeps into groundwater supplies and can harm aquatic wildlife, kill plants, burn grasses and poison birds.
Why We Recommend Safe Paw for Our Pet Sitting Clients
Safe Paw is 100% salt-free. It is made up of a crystalline amide core infused with special glycols which is non-corrosive. There are a few other “pet safe” ice melters on the market, but for my floofins, Safe Paw has worked great and appears to be one of the safest on the market.
What Else Can I Do To Protect My Pets?
Unfortunately not everyone in your neighborhood worries about safety of our furry friends. When you are on walks, be aware of what your dog is stepping in. Think about using booties or at the very least, give them a good thorough paw wipe when they get home. If paws get dry, use a paw balm to moisturize dry and cracked paw pads.
Floofins & Co. provides pet care and pet sitting in Chicago’s eastern suburbs including: the following communities and surrounding areas: Addison, Bolingbrook, Brookfield, Burr Ridge, Clarendon Hills, Darien, Downers Grove, Elmhurst, Elmwood Park, Forest Park, Glen Ellyn, Hinsdale, LaGrange, Lisle, Lombard, Naperville, Riverside, Oakbrook, Oak Park, Schaumburg, Western Springs, Westmont, Wheaton, & Woodridge.
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