Is Your Home Harming Your Pet?

Every family wants its pets to live long, healthy lives. Unfortunately, you probably have some things in your home that could harm your pet’s health. Is your home harming your pet? Look for these three problems to decide how healthy your house is.

Toxic Cleaning Products

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Image via Flickr by joelogon

Cleaning products often contain toxic ingredients that can hurt pets. Some of the most dangerous ingredients include bleach, isopropyl alcohol, formaldehyde, and perchloroethylene. If any of the cleaning products you own contain these ingredients, dispose of them in a safe manner.

Once you remove toxic cleaning products from your home, you can replace them with safer alternatives. Some reliable products include:

  • Meter’s Clean Day Bathroom Cleaner
  • Ecover Non-Chlorine Bleach
  • Green Work’s Natural Biodegradable Wipes
  • Nature’s Source Glass Cleaner

Poor Indoor Air Quality

Poor indoor air quality (AIQ) can hurt your pets just as much as it hurts you and your kids. Dirty air often leads to allergies, headaches, and asthma. In some cases, it can even contribute to more severe health concerns like rashes, nausea, rapid heartbeat, and even hearing loss.

Improving your home’s AIQ is one of the best things you can do for your pet’s health. Luckily, you have some easy options for making the air healthy. Make sure you replace dirty air filters (usually once every 30 to 90 days), clean your chimney regularly, and avoid air fresheners that contain volatile organic compounds.

Getting maintenance for your HVAC system can also improve air quality inside your home. When vents get dirty, they can blow dust and other pollutants into the air. Vents can also get clogged, which makes it difficult for them to circulate the air well. Talk to a professional about the services your HVAC system needs. It usually doesn’t cost much money to make your HVAC system more efficient at cleaning the air.

Bed Bugs

Bed bugs have become an increasingly serious problem, especially for people who live in multi-family buildings where the insects can travel from home to home in search of new food. Bed bugs won’t actually damage your health, but they are annoying and difficult to eliminate.

A lot of people who search their beds for pests never think to inspect the places where pets sleep. Bed bugs will happily feed on your dog, cat, and other warm-blooded animals.

Bed bugs create several health problems for pets. If your pet can’t sleep well, he or she may become anxious and depressed. Your pet will also feel distressed by the constant itching left by bed bug bites.

Using harsh chemicals to kill bed bugs can also hurt your pets. Some reports show that the chemicals may cause neurological issues. If you find bed bugs, use a non-toxic treatment like thermal radiation. It’s a healthier alternative for everyone in your home.

Pet owners have a responsibility to keep their animals safe and healthy. If you have any of these dangers in your home, remove them and find safer replacements. You’ll contribute to your pet’s health and keep your family safe, too.

Disclaimer: This is a collaborative guest post.

2 comments on “Is Your Home Harming Your Pet?

  1. Gosh! Bed bugs are the worst. Would never wish them on anyone. Another thing I would add is to choose the right toys for your pet.

    Thanks for sharing

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