What’s in a Pet Friendly Ice Melter?
A walk down
most retail outlets and certainly any pet store will reveal a selection of ice
melters in plastic jugs, all with a puppy’s face staring back at you from the
label. It may take some staring at the
label to realize that the product is an ice melter – as the cute dog is blocking
your view of the ice - but that is intentional.
This is a “Pet Safe,” product, and your pet is understandably much more
important than the ice.
This recent
trend in ice melt marketing of products billed as “Pet Safe,” implies that
everything not labeled as such is Not Pet Safe.
While there are products that should not be used around pets the absence
or presence of “Pet Safe” in a name does not make it so. So rather than
listening to the cute puppy on the label, you should take a moment to
understand what constitutes as “Pet Safe.”
When you are buying something
labeled “Pet Safe,” what exactly are you being sold?
The first
thing you need to be aware of is that sometimes labels lie. This may be intended as marketing spin, but
having been in the industry for as long as we have, we are routinely shocked by
the claims we read on packages we find. Ice
melting products are currently an unregulated industry, so always keep that in
mind when reading product claims and make informed decisions. Don’t always trust the puppy. When reviewing a Pet Safe ice melter, skip
the advertising copy and read the ingredients.
Beware of packages that claim to be safe but do not list what’s in the
product.
The two most
common concerns regarding pets and ice melters are:
Ingestion
– the fear that your pet could eat a poisonous amount
of the product.
Dry paws –
concerns that the chemical on the ground can get into your pets
paws and dry out the soft pads.
For
ingestion, it is highly unlikely that your dog will eat enough salt to get
sick, however avoid sweet smelling products that may have an appealing taste
for your pet. According to the ASPCA’s
“can potentially produce effects such as drooling, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of
appetite, vocalizing/crying, excessive thirst, depression, weakness, low blood
pressure, disorientation, decreased muscle function and in severe cases, cardiac
abnormalities, seizures, coma and even death (www.aspca.org).”
If you
suspect that your animal has been poisoned, contact your veterinarian
immediately or the
Hygroscopic
chemicals such as calcium chloride and magnesium chloride that draw moisture
from the air or an over application of traditional rock salt, is often to blame
for dried out paws. Avoiding the use of
these chlorides where animals will spend a great deal of time is advisable.
The most
common, and often sole ingredient in ice melters labeled “Pet Safe,” is Urea
(sometimes listed as Carbonyl Diamide
or Carbamide Resin). Urea is a bio-degradable chemical that is most
commonly used in fertilizers. Although
Urea won’t harm your pet’s paws, it also won’t melt your ice. An over application of Urea, which is
inevitable as you struggle to melt ice with it, can have damaging effects to
the surrounding vegetation and contamination to water runoff. Also the price per pound of Urea makes it a
very expensive and highly impractical ice melter. If that is how you want to battle ice, a bag
of sand or gravel will do the same thing and be a lot cheaper. However it most likely won’t have a cute
picture of a dog on the label.
Most ice
melters sold by us or even our competitors, except for calcium or magnesium
chlorides, if used according to their label instructions will not harm pets
with normal contact. You must however,
always be aware of your pets, their health and their behavior. The safest thing you can do is avoid the use
of ice melting chemicals altogether. If
you must use a chemical be aware of your pet at all times and immediately
remove the slush and dissolved product after it has done its work. Taking a moment to wipe off your pet’s paws
will also be a big help. Your pet will
thank you.
ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center 1-888-426-4435
http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_apcc_news122005