Dog News: WARNING- How cleaning your home could be DEADLY for your cats and dogs

Cats and dogs have been left with horrific burns after coming into contact with dangerous everyday cleaning agents.

One pet dog has had to be put to sleep after suffering caustic burns to its paws, legs and mouth from laundry detergent, while a cat was left foaming when it licked a floor cleaned with disinfectant.

Toilets treated with chemicals are one of the biggest household hazards for pets as highlighted by the horrific stories of a cat called Bootsie and Beau the Labrador cross.

Both animals needed emergency treatment when they were taken seriously ill after sneaking into toilets for a drink.

Bootsie the three year old tabby suffered severe ulceration to his throat and had to be tube-fed when he lapped from a toilet treated with bleach.

Vets had to give two year old Beau emergency treatment for chemicals burn because he had drunk from a toilet fitted with a bleach cistern block.

Leading veterinary charity PDSA today put out its spring cleaning danger warning in the run up to the Bank Holiday weekend when millions will be giving their homes a major overhaul.

PDSA vet Rebecca Ashman said: “With many households doing their spring cleaning, it’s important to ensure products are safe to use around pets.

“Millions of us use bleach, oven cleaner, dishwasher tablets and laundry detergents all the time in the home but we need to realise how dangerous they can be to our pets.

“Products such as bleach and detergents are highly corrosive and cause permanent and even life-threatening damage to a pet’s skin or insides if swallowed.

“Some pets will naturally explore or chew boxes and containers, so it’s really important to keep cleaning products safely locked away. 

"Also, if you’re cleaning floors or other areas pets use, please keep them out of harm’s way and rinse the areas after cleaning.  

"Using products at the correct dilution also helps to ensure pets don’t come into contact with concentrated chemicals.”

Ensuring that animals get urgent veterinary treatment if they are suspected to have been in contact with household products can be the difference between life and death.

Among the symptoms pet owners should be on the alert for if their animals have been exposed to toxic chemicals are:

• Ulcerated or irritated skin including inside the mouth

• Vomiting or coughing

• Difficulty eating and excessive salivation/foaming at the mouth

• Pawing at the mouth

Bootsie’s owner, Sophie McDowall, 24, from Northfields, Leicester, explained how her pet almost died: “I bleached the toilet and bathroom and hadn’t thought anything more about it. 

"However, in the morning I woke to find Bootsie lying lifeless on his blanket with his tongue sticking out, dribbling everywhere and making a very strange noise.”

Beau’s owner Eva Paterson, 26, from Edinburgh, had noticed how he had developed a cough and was sick after eating or exercise but then, while doing housework, she discovered the bathroom door was ajar and found him drinking out of the toilet.

Ms Paterson, 26, said: “I called PDSA Edinburgh Pet Hospital and they wanted to see him urgently because swallowing bleach can be very damaging. 

"When we arrived they listened to his heart and had a look at his mouth and throat which seemed to be irritated and he appeared to have suffered chemical burns.”

PDSA vet Ms Ashman added: “Bootsie and Beau don’t have any permanent effects from drinking bleach but they are among the lucky ones, as both incidents could have been much worse. 

"We really want to try and prevent pets coming into contact with everyday household cleaning products and want to raise awareness of the possible dangers.”