The Dirty Truth: Pet Safety Hazards Hiding in Your Homes and Gardens

Episode 67 • 15th October 2025 • Barking Mad • BSM Partners

00:20

Jordan Tyler

So you've just finished deep cleaning your house. Every surface is sparkling. Your garden is flourishing with fresh fertilizer. You even watered the houseplants. That satisfying sense of accomplishment is filling the air. But lurking beneath this domestic bliss are invisible threats that could turn your pet's safe haven into a danger zone.

00:45

Dr. Stephanie Clark

In our first toxicity episode, we explored how something as innocent as a scent diffuser could overwhelm our pets super sensitive noses. But today we're expanding our investigation beyond fragrance to uncover the hidden hazards in our cleaning cabinets, our windowsills, and our garden sheds. Because the very products we use to create a healthy, beautiful environment might be the most dangerous of all.

Welcome to Barking Mad, a podcast by BSM Partners. We're your hosts, Dr. Stephanie Clark—

01:19

Jordan Tyler

—and I'm Jordan Tyler. So, welcome back to our mini-series on toxicities in pets. So, we kicked this off with our first episode last week; that's linked in the show notes and focuses on fragrance related toxicities or just fragrance related risks when it comes to our pet's health and wellness. And as we covered in that episode, there are three major ways for a toxicity to occur in our pets. One is through inhalation (breathing it in,) another through ingestion (eating it)—

01:53

Dr. Stephanie Clark

Yum yum.

01:55

Jordan Tyler

And contact with the skin. And again, pets are self-groomers—

01:57

Dr. Stephanie Clark

—and me on a long day…

02:02

Jordan Tyler

—and Stephanie on a long day. But yeah, I think for this episode that is one of the most important things, right? Because household cleaning products are things that we spray all over our countertops and our floors, on surfaces to keep things clean. But those same surfaces are often where our pets are walking around and they're going to lick that paw later, I promise, and then it's maybe going to get into their body.

02:26

Dr. Stephanie Clark

And if that doesn't make things any worse, dogs and sometimes cats are notorious, case in point from last episode, at getting into things that they shouldn't. But it's really on us to ensure we're creating a safe environment for them to live and thrive. So, let's get into today's episode. We are back again with Dr. Tina Wismer, senior director of toxicology at the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center.

02:52

Jordan Tyler

We'll also bring back Dr. Renee Schmid, senior veterinary toxicologist and DVM supervisor at Pet Poison Helpline. And let's start today with household cleaning products. We're going to go through a few different categories of items that are found in and around the home. But starting with household cleaning products, this is the arsenal that we use to keep our home spotless, but in the wrong paws could actually be dangerous. So, Dr. Wismer shared some wisdom on how to keep a clean home and a safe pet. You can have both! Let's hear from her.

03:28

Dr. Tina Wismer

So, I think the most important thing when we're using cleaners is, No. 1, to read the label. Some of these things are meant to be diluted, and if they're diluted, it's not an issue. Right? You know, that one cap full of stuff in the mop bucket, not a problem. But chewing into the bottle itself is an issue. And I always recommend, right, that we don't let the animals help while we're cleaning. Put them, you know, in the bedroom or in the bathroom until the product is dry. And once it's dry, most of these are pretty darn safe. But yes, we get lots of calls about people who have, you know, cleaned the toilet and then they don't flush it, and then the dog, you know, drinks out of the toilet and you're like, oh, okay, right.

04:11

Dr. Tina Wismer

So it is at least diluted in the water. So, some, you know, stomach upset, but it's like having a toddler on speed in your house. Right? I mean, they are everywhere and they are quick about it. So, you have to be smarter than they are. Sometimes that's hard!

04:27

Dr. Stephanie Clark

And according to Dr. Schmid, anything with a warning label or high concentration warnings should be handled with much more caution. These are the highly most wanted dangerous guys out there.

04:40

Dr. Renee Schmid

When we see these chemicals or products that say danger on the front, most of the time when we're talking about cleaning products, it could because it's highly flammable, but most of the time it's because it can cause severe injury to humans, which then can cause severe injury to animals as well. And most of those are considered corrosive products. They either have a low pH, which is acidic, or a high pH, which is alkaline. And those can then cause corrosive effects, meaning they get ulcers. They get chemical burns basically to the mouth and the tongue and the esophagus and the stomach or to the skin into the eyes. Those are the ones I say they go to the gym and work out all the time. So, they are the oven cleaners, the drain openers, the toilet bowl cleaners.

05:27

Dr. Renee Schmid

They've got the job that I don't want to do. So, they have to have that powerful punch to them. And so I like to say you don't have to avoid those products, but I would avoid using them with your pet around in case you were to spill any of it, and definitely keep those products way up and out of reach. Toddler-proof your home when you have a pet. So, those products shouldn't be under the sink on a lower cabinet. They should be up high where animal can't get to them. Because if they get into these concentrated products, they can be really extremely damaging.

06:02

Dr. Stephanie Clark

So let's talk about different house cleaners or cleaning products that we use for dirty things like clothes, right? So vinegar. We, at least at the Clark household, we love vinegar. We soak everything in vinegar, and that's because it can lift dirt, it can lift oil. And when you have young kids, everything gets on their clothes. At soccer practice, dirt's going to get on their clothes, grass stains, and so when were able to soak their clothes in vinegar, it allows the dirt and the oil or the grass stains to be lifted from their clothes. However, there are cationic or disinfectants that we like to use, say bleach. We want these to disinfect like our bathroom or our kitchen counters, especially if we're cooking and like chopping up chicken for dinner. And this is going to be able to stick to the surface, and it's going to essentially grab onto those bad bacteria and disinfect or sterilize them and make them not dangerous.

07:03

Jordan Tyler

But let's say your cat gets done going to the bathroom, and you want to make sure the nasty little bacteria on their paw pads doesn't track all throughout your house. But you're not going to pick up your cat and wipe its paws off with bleach that could essentially burn the paw pads or begin to even slough off some skin. And so, let's go back to Dr. Schmid and talk about what can happen when cats can get into cationic detergents.

07:31

Dr. Stephanie Clark

And it can actually be really scary and quite corrosive.

07:34

Dr. Renee Schmid

So, the other things we look out for are in cats, specifically, so products that have cationic detergents. So, think of cat and cationic detergents, and those are ones that are in, like, some laundry detergents, some dishwashing detergents, the things that are trying to attract dirt to an area to help clean it. And the cats are really sensitive to that. And so, they'll have ulcers, they can have their tongue slough. It can be really damaging to them. And it has a normal pH, and so that can make it really deceptive for somebody to look at. And it may not say danger, often doesn't say danger on the bottle because to humans, it's not a big issue. But for cats, they're extremely sensitive.

08:22

Jordan Tyler

Yeah, that's a great insight and also kind of a funny coincidence of the naming behind that. But I guess before we move on, we haven't really talked about things like rubbing alcohol, which is a pretty common disinfectant. Dr. Wismar, is that dangerous for our pets?

08:41

Dr. Tina Wismer

So truly, when we think about rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol, volume per volume, it's actually about three times as intoxicating as ethanol. Right? The kind that we drink, so smells bad. Most animals are going to avoid it walking across it. They're not going to absorb enough through their paws or grooming it off themselves to be an issue. But if you don't put that bottle away and the dog chews into it, then we could have an issue with intoxication.

09:11

Jordan Tyler

Yeah, that's a great insight and also kind of a funny coincidence of the naming behind that. Okay, so we just went through some of the harsher chemicals and things that come in our household cleaning products that we want to be mindful of when we're around pets. But there's more. And to go through this next piece, we're going to reintroduce Pete Stirling, cofounder and CEO of Skout's Honor, a pet wellness brand offering environmentally conscious, cruelty-free grooming skin and wellness products made with natural, prebiotic and eco-friendly ingredients. So, let's talk about VOCs, or volatile organic compounds. That's what they stand for. These are liquids or solids that convert to gasses at room temperature. So, think about things like nail polish remover, gasoline, paint fumes—all of these things have really distinct scents because they're literally giving off fumes. And it's not just things like that.

10:05

Jordan Tyler

It's also some of the more corrosive household cleaning products that Drs. Wismer and Schmid were talking about a little bit earlier. So, VOCs are created through these kinds of products after they’re used. So, you spray the cleaner on your countertop and it starts to evaporate into the air, and when VOCs are released into the air in concentrated amounts, they can irritate the eyes, the nose, the lungs, and over time, just not super great for overall health. And if you think about, you know, we said earlier, pets are not small humans, but they are small. VOC exposure can really take effect in them faster than it'll take effect in us. Especially when you're cleaning in a space with something highly corrosive that gives off VOCs that's not properly ventilated.

10:55

Jordan Tyler

Honor came into the market in: 2008

11:36

Pete Stirling

VOCs are interesting because you get hit with that smell and you're like, I mean, I should be wearing a mask. I'm going to work around this stuff. It's evaporating at room temperature. So, it's creating what people relate to as indoor air pollution. And it's specifically dangerous to dogs and cats because of how low they are to the ground. So, if I'm spraying the carpet with a cleaner and it's got a certain VOC level, by the time it gets up to me, you know, it's bad. But six to 10 inches off of the carpet, it's like, really bad. It's more about the inhalation issues and the air quality is what's being affected by VOCs. So, we ended up getting some really neat innovation out of it.

12:17

Pete Stirling

And that's how we ended up starting the company is because we found this really cool upcycled bio-based surfactant that was not only able to play the role of the surfactant, which is essentially, people commonly call it a soap, it just removes something from something else. Right? Separates like a stain from the carpet. And a solvent, which we all know what solvents are.

12:39

Jordan Tyler

So if you don't know, solvents are liquids that can dissolve grease, stains and plenty of other substances so that they can be wiped away. So, think about water is a big one, but also things like rubbing alcohol and acetone nail polish remover and stuff like that.

12:58

Dr. Stephanie Clark

And for those of you thinking… water? Water can dissolve salt and sugars, so it is a solvent.

13:05

Pete Stirling

So this did both and were able to put a lot of it in the bottle. It extremely low to no VOC and it was really effective. So that type of innovation is what really kicked us off. Just seeing that there's a way to make something better if you want to.

13:22

Dr. Stephanie Clark

Bringing it back to the birds. In our previous episode about toxic fragrances, Dr. Schmid noted birds are particularly sensitive to odors. And that is something to watch out for with household cleaning products too.

13:36

Dr. Renee Schmid

I would just reiterate, if you have a household with birds, we want to really avoid anything that has many scents as much as possible. And so, you know, sometimes I don't even think just moving them to a different room is necessarily enough. So, if you're going to really deep clean that house with something that's fragranced, we want to be sure and just remove the bird from the environment completely and ventilate really well before you bring them back. Also, just, again, just making sure things are kept up, out of reach, and looking at those signal words that comment on the bottle kind of gives you an idea that, yes, this is probably going to be okay around my pet, or no, I should probably be more careful.

14:22

Jordan Tyler

So, shifting gears a little bit, we've been talking in the first episode about fragrances. We just talked about household cleaning products and some of the red flag or warnings to consider when it comes to those products. But what about some of the other things that we have in our homes for decor, for air purification? I'm talking about houseplants. So, any dual moms out there? If you're a dog mom and a plant mom, or a cat mom and a plant mom, or to the dads out there—sorry, I didn't mean to be sexist.

14:56

Dr. Stephanie Clark

How dare you.

14:58

Jordan Tyler

But we like these things because aesthetically they're pleasing. We like having living things around us. And having plants in the house does help to purify the air, so that's great. But there are a lot of toxic houseplants out there for dogs and cats, so it's really important to know which ones you're going to want to avoid bringing into your own home. So, let's go first to Dr. Schmid to hear about some of the household plants that we like to commonly keep and which ones are actually maybe a minefield of toxicity for curious pets.

15:32

Dr. Renee Schmid

I would be remiss if I didn't focus on lilies. And these are kind of the kidney toxic lilies, which are lilies in the lilium and hemerocallis species. So, day lily, Tiger lily, Oriental, Asiatic, the rose lily, the Easter lily, these are all ones that can cause kidney failure in cats. Dogs, we just see stomach upset, but in cats, we can see kidney failure developing. And in cats, where it's recognized and they're treated rarely will have issues. But cats that were either not recognized or just not treated will often develop kidney failure, and it's fatal to these guys.

16:15

Dr. Renee Schmid

And we can see them in, you know, outside landscaping, or they could be in fresh cut bouquets or, you know, the Easter lily is often the full plant that sits in the house for several months, and cats can ingest any portion of it, including the pollen. And so, if you have a cat that rubs up against and gets pollen on their face or their chest, I would still consider that as ingesting it, because, again, cats love to groom themselves. They will have probably ingested that as well. But every part of that plant is toxic, not just the petals or the leaves that are there.

16:52

Dr. Stephanie Clark

What is the one lily that you get when someone dies? Is it like a day lily?

16:57

Jordan Tyler

Oh, the peace lily.

16:59

Dr. Stephanie Clark

Peace lily, yeah. Those are dangerous for dogs.

17:02

Jordan Tyler

Oh, no.

17:04

Dr. Stephanie Clark

Which I think it's really interesting that a lot of the plants that we as humans gift to others or that are notoriously tied to holidays or grieving or different celebrations are usually the ones that are most toxic to animals.

17:23

Jordan Tyler

It's like, oh, you're—are you grieving the loss of somebody? Here's a toxic plant that might kill your cat.

17:32

Dr. Stephanie Clark

But for real. So, I had a Peace Lily living in my house for, I don't know, maybe four and a half, almost five years. And I was, like, so proud of it. It was so pretty. And up until Esther decided to pick all of the leaves off of it, which I guess was a good thing, because I had two dogs in the house, and thank God, neither one of them were much into leaf munching, but it was right there on the floor, like…

17:57

Jordan Tyler

I actually didn't know that peace lilies were also dangerous for dogs, just because we hear so much about lilies being so toxic and so detrimental for cats. So, I think that's a super important point to bring up. You know, definitely be wary with the peace lilies around the dogs as well.

18:16

Dr. Stephanie Clark

Yeah, and they can be quite toxic. Just as toxic as they are in cats. I mean, we're talking, like, kidney damage.

18:22

Jordan Tyler

Oof.

18:22

Dr. Stephanie Clark

Depending on the types of species of lilies. It's not just, “Oh, I ate it, and I have an upset stomach, and now my dog has decided to puke everywhere.” Like, we can have some serious organ failure.

18:34

Jordan Tyler

Terrible. But what else? There's got to be more things that we can watch for dogs. So, Dr. Wismer, what would you caution against in the houseplant department for our canine companions?

18:46

Dr. Tina Wismer

On the dog side, probably the most dangerous plants are sago palms or these little cycad palms. You can go to, like, IKEA or Home Depot and buy these cute little palms, and they're not labeled, and they can actually cause liver failure in both dogs and cats. So, this is not a plant that you would like in your household. A lot of our plants, our tropical foliage type plants, are just going to be mild stomach upset ones that can cause problems, especially cardiac problems are things like lily of the valley that sometimes we pick in the spring and bring inside. Those contain compounds that can affect the rhythm of the heart. Same way with rhododendrons and azaleas. Those can also cause cardiac issues and along with oleander and foxglove, also cardiac issues. Someone once asked me, Tina, why are all the poisonous plants so pretty?

19:44

Dr. Tina Wismer

And the answer is, of course, because they can't run away. So, they use these chemical methods to stop insects and animals from eating them. Unfortunately, right, even though we've nurtured them and grown them and given them everything, we bring them inside, they still contain those toxic components.

20:03

Jordan Tyler

Any others that come to mind that cause like systemic issues in pets? I know that there are plenty that probably cause digestive upset and that's never fun. But, you know, there's a difference between, you know, short lived digestive upset and like a systemic issue. Right?

20:20

Dr. Renee Schmid

Shamrock. Shamrock is a plant that's indoors, some people really love it. If the cat ingests a door dog in just a large enough amount, they could see kidney failure in that as well. I always like to talk about poinsettias because poinsettias get a bad rap. They're not fatal, they cause stomach upset to occur. So, we don't want our pet to be vomiting and have loose stool because we don't want to clean it up and we don't want to put them under that stress. I don't avoid having it in my house. If I had animal that, so far, my pets, they don't love poinsettias, so they don't continually eat it. But I don't hesitate to have it in the house. Unless you have a cat or a dog that's constantly eating it and getting stomach upset.

21:03

Dr. Renee Schmid

And then things like dieffenbachia, pothos, philodendron, a lot of those. I consider them more common houseplants. Those usually just cause stomach upset to occur. So not a big issue to avoid.

21:18

Jordan Tyler

Yeah, I kind of take the approach of I have some plants, but they're in a room that either I can only access or they can only access when I can access it. And so there are ways you can have houseplants and have a cat. You’ve just got to be extra careful about it, especially, you know, if you don't want to be cleaning up the vomit or the puke and definitely avoid, you know, the ones that are toxic, you know, and can cause fatal ramifications, those are definitely a no go. So, houseplants, now you know some of the ones to avoid. We'll link to some other resources in the show notes, some visual resources to kind of help jog your memory on what these plants actually look like and what to avoid in the show notes for today's episode, for sure.

22:01

Jordan Tyler

But let's move outside the home more like lawn and garden care products. So, for those of us that have pets that go outside, whether that's a dog in the backyard, where there's a garden, or a cat, that's maybe indoor, outdoor, what are some of the things that we should avoid or maybe just be extra careful around using? And I kind of wanted to start with Dr. Wismer. What is top of mind for you when you think about products like this and pet safety?

22:31

Dr. Tina Wismer

Probably the most dangerous class of items that we may use on our lawn and garden are insecticides. They're made to kill insects, and some of them are toxic to mammals. So using things like integrated pest management, right, where you get little lace swings or you get, you know, ladybugs to eat the bugs, or, you know, shaking those Japanese beetles off your roses and dumping them into, you know, dish soap and water are probably some of the safest things to use. But with insecticides, it certainly is all about following label directions. And most of them will have restrictions for children and pets on the label. They need to stay off for 24 hours or, you know, potentially longer, depending upon the product. And we need to make sure that we put the bag away also or the bottles away, so they're not exposed to that.

23:26

Dr. Renee Schmid

Fly baits, different insecticides that get put on, like Sevin dust, things that get put onto your plants, those things, if they contain either a carbamate or an organophosphate, which are two classes of chemicals, those can be extremely dangerous to animals. The fly baits specifically, those a lot of times have really narrow margin of safety. They cause neurologic signs, so they can cause tremors and seizures to occur. And they can happen pretty quickly, too. So, I like to avoid those things all together.

24:01

Jordan Tyler

Great insights there. Definitely be wary with your pets around insecticides, but what else? What about fertilizers? Is there anything we should watch out for in that department?

24:13

Dr. Tina Wismer

We always talk about fertilizers being especially organic ones, pieces, parts, right? It's chicken litter, so, you know, it's chicken poop and, you know, feathers or fish meal or bone meal or blood meal. And if you're a dog, there is nothing better than, you know, parts of dead things. The good news is with those, it's just stomach upset. Right?

24:37

Dr. Tina Wismer

The problem is if you combine some of those things with insecticides, you're going to be attracting your dogs, and we want to make sure that does not happen.

24:46

Dr. Renee Schmid

Plant food is fairly similar to that as well. Usually not a big issue. If they get into a little bit of plant food fertilizers that have more specific fertilizers that maybe contain iron, those can be a little bit more irritating. There is a fertilizer called Milorganite. It's made out of sewage, and there may be some other brands with that as well. But that one is really interesting because there's something in there that often causes animals to develop like difficulty walking and body tremors. And so that one can be more problematic. And it's probably just because of the different chemicals that are in this, you know, the different things that are in the sewage, we haven't really found out what that specific trigger ingredient is. But the other ones, you know, if they contain iron, we have to watch out for iron poisoning.

25:36

Dr. Renee Schmid

But a general, you know, crabgrass control fertilizer that you're putting on seasonally or something like that, usually not a big issue. And then this isn't necessarily yard and garden, but outdoors. A lot of times people will put rodenticides or ratio rat and mouse baits out there. If you have a pet, I'm more of a fan of using one of those boxes where the rodent goes in and doesn't come out, or using something that has like a corn gluten base as opposed to any type of an active ingredient that could be more concerning to animals.

26:08

Jordan Tyler

Okay, so insecticides, fertilizers, what about herbicides? Or like weed killer, I guess would be like the common name for those. Anything we should watch out for there.

26:23

Dr. Tina Wismer

So with herbicides, most of them are pretty specific to plant metabolism. So once they are dry, they're taken down into the roots of the plant and they're really not available for our dogs and cats to get into. So, most herbicides, as long as you follow label directions, we're going to be fine. Right. Spray them on, let it dry, and then the pets can come back out. The plants themselves typically don't become more toxic. Now, if were dealing with grazing animals, maybe you've got goats or horses or cattle, they can eat enough of those plants to potentially have issues. So, dogs and cats, herbicides are typically not a problem.

27:07

Dr. Stephanie Clark

And then last question for outside: pet safe salt for ice. Is that a thing? I mean, I still wipe my dog's paws off just because, I don't know, I don't. One, I don't want it in the house. But two, that salt can't be good on their little paw pads.

27:24

Dr. Tina Wismer

So most pet safe ice melts are urea based, right? So, dogs and cats, they're totally fine. It is a problem in ruminants, right? So, your goats, sheep, cattle, it can cause high blood ammonia, but dogs and cats, it is safe. Now the other products that contain the true salts, right, Sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride can cause skin irritation. And if enough is ingested, we can certainly see vomiting and changes in our blood electrolytes. So, the ones that say pet safe, if it's urea based, go for it. And yes, I'd still wipe off the granules so they're not dragging across the carpet. But you don't have to worry about the paws.

28:10

Jordan Tyler

I would have assumed though that it was not safe. Like if a dog got it like on its paws and was like licking its paws, like, I would have thought that would be like a big issue, but I guess it's really not.

28:21

Dr. Stephanie Clark

Yeah, I was always told that not pet safe, ice melt, salt, whatever, like would burn them alive. Like, I don't know if that was just to scare us or…

28:29

Jordan Tyler

It's like the lies that our parents told us that actually aren't true. But anyway, as to not be so gloom and doom about these most wanted toxic substances in our homes and around our properties, from household cleaners to sago palms to ice melt and everything in between, everything we've talked about today. Dr. Wismer, what are some ways we can protect our pets around all these types of products?

28:57

Dr. Tina Wismer

With storage, you need to put them away after you use them in a place where the pets can't get to them. Whether that's someplace up high, whether that's on a cabinet with baby locks, you just don't want them to have access to it. Now once again, dose right. And you know, walking across a wet counter or wet floor that you know you've used your sodium bicarbonate and vinegar on is not going to be a problem. They're just not going to get enough. But chewing into the box potentially could be an issue.

29:29

Jordan Tyler

So I wanted to spend a little bit of time on flea and tick products. Since we're talking about stuff that we use on our lawns and our gardens for pets that go outdoors. A lot of those pets also are going to need some kind of flea and tick prevention during certain seasons, depending on where you live, obviously in the weather that you get. But the funny thing about flea and tick is if you think about it, right, these products are literally designed to kill blood sucking, potentially parasitic creatures that might like to take your pet for a spin, but we're putting them on our pets, right? So, it's like, you can see where I'm going with this, right? Like, how safe are these?

30:09

Jordan Tyler

Actually, there's been a ton of research done around this, and we found out that flea intake products are actually what is called 25B exempt pesticides. So according to the FDA, they are exempt from having to be registered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act because they are at “minimum risk for people, animals and the planet.” So, to provide a little bit more color on that, let's go back to Pete Stirling to kind of walk us along the line between something that's intentionally toxic for fleas and ticks and other pests, but non-toxic to animals. Pete, how does that work?

30:51

Pete Stirling

I think it just comes down to really making sure that people understand they're buying a pesticide and then they need to treat it like a pesticide. If I spray a pesticide around my house to kill cockroaches and things like that, I'm not going to let my kids go over there for a little while. There's a very finite list of ingredients you're allowed to use in these products, and they are considered generally safe for use. So, it's as good as it's going to get, and something that's designed to kill something. So, we chose the 25B exempt route and we registered at the state level and we go through all the different steps that are required to sell retail a pesticide. And that is, it's a fairly intensive process, it's not inexpensive.

31:34

Pete Stirling

But we wanted to provide what we feel is a safer option for pesticide in the 25B exempt because I think that it is a more natural approach. But at the same time, like from a natural aspect, there is some inherent danger with using it. So, you’ve just got to be careful about how you do it.

31:52

Dr. Stephanie Clark

So I did my master's on this. I did my master's research on this, on the safety of monthly prevention. I did it on twofold. One on: the EPA says that the risk for veterinary personnel is the same risk as owning a dog and just sitting with them. And I don't know about you, but when I have been in a clinic, I hold so many dogs so close to my face versus, like, my own dogs that are just maybe like, sitting on the couch with me or like, snuggled next to my hip. Like, they are not, like, on my face, touching my neck. Like, you would be like, restraining a dog or a cat in, like, a clinical situation.

32:30

Jordan Tyler

Right.

32:31

Dr. Stephanie Clark

And so what we did is we saw, like, topical prevention that you would basically, like, put on the skin. It's kind of like, oily and stuff. It's meant to stay there, but, like, actually how much is absorbed into the bloodstream and then how much is absorbed or not absorbed? And, like, if you were to pet a dog for, like, five minutes a day, how much actually comes off on your hand? And so, we had these, like, fabric gloves that we would pet the dogs with, and it's still present on their skin at 30 days. And for anyone who uses these, know you apply it every month, and a typical month is 30 days. So, we never got to this point. Obviously, this is, you know, research makes a lifelong career. But, like, what's the compounding effect?

33:11

Dr. Stephanie Clark

Like, if it's still present at 30 days and then you apply it at day 31 or, you know, your new month, how much more is still on the skin? And then how much more is still on the skin? And then we say after three days, it's safe. You know, you can't bathe them or whatever. Three days, you know, before or after. But then how many children are, like, touching the animal and then touching their mouth or touching something? I mean, dare I say, like, my dogs and my baby are, like, all together in the living room. And like, to have them all not touch just is not reality.

33:48

Jordan Tyler

Yeah, no, absolutely not.

33:50

Dr. Stephanie Clark

But this all kind of like, started is like you said, these are products to kill. Like, they're not products to just like, oh, deter. Like, it kind of stinks kind of bad. And so, when we start crossing species products. So, like, if you were to take a dog, ectoparasite prevention, like, topical prevention, and put it on a cat, you can actually cause a lot of serious issues. And that's where we see cats with, like, neurological issues or having seizures. Because you have now just put a toxic meant to kill compound chemical that was made for a different species on a different species or some people will try and do. This may be like a very low southern Midwestern thing to do is like, you buy, like, a large dog dosage and you, like, eyeball it for like, a few months for your smaller animal because it’s cheaper.

34:41

Jordan Tyler

Yeah.

34:41

Dr. Stephanie Clark

But it's like, there's a reason that they are dosed per body weight 100%.

34:47

Jordan Tyler

Yeah. It comes back to this theme that we keep stumbling across throughout all these episodes is dose determines the poison and size matters in terms of, you know, what species you're working with. Is it a small dog, is it a large dog, is it a medium sized dog versus a cat? Like, those are huge differences when it comes to the way that these animals metabolize compounds and their different tolerances to specific substances. And that's why there's a small dog, you know, Frontline or, you know, insert flea and tick prevention brand here, and a medium one, you know, medium dogs and a large dog and a giant breed dog one and one specifically for cats. It's not just that, you know, the industry likes to make everything as expensive as possible.

35:35

Jordan Tyler

It's actually to keep your pet safe because these are controlled doses that they know are not going to be harmful to the pet if applied correctly. So yeah, I, that's a super important point. And I didn't know you did your master's research on that. That's fascinating.

35:51

Dr. Stephanie Clark

Yeah, it was in toxicology and then I was like, do I go toxicology or do I go nutrition? And I figured nutrition, you could at least stop them before they start dying. And then you have to study why they died.

36:04

Jordan Tyler

You're like, it's a little less morbid.

36:06

Dr. Stephanie Clark

Yeah, it sounded a little less sad. I don't know, it probably is all around just crazy. But I mean, it was really eye opening. Like why you shouldn't get your topical prevention for your pets. Like just at like a, I don't know, save a lot. Like why going through and getting a prescription and going through an actual pharmaceutical company is super important.

36:30

Pete Stirling

I think that as an industry, I think we could put more focus on looking at some of the stuff that we got on our shelves because some of the most well-intentioned retailers still retail this stuff because they always have and it makes money and people buy it. And that's the excuse for lack of a better word. Right. But we have to start being more aware of what's happening around us in terms of the products that we have on our shelves and that we're selling to consumers because there's a lot of good that's not being done and potentially damage that is being done.

37:01

Dr. Stephanie Clark

Now that we've brought down the gavel on risky household cleaning products and lawn care, let's go down the lineup.

37:07

Jordan Tyler

So these are substances that have been found guilty of intent to harm. Essentially any household cleaning products that have a warning label on the front that are highly concentrated, highly flammable, either have a low pH or a high pH as they could be corrosive. And especially when it comes to cats. Watch out for cationic cleaners. And Dr. Schmid gave a great way to remember that cats cationic, they do not like each other, so don't use them.

37:37

Dr. Stephanie Clark

Additionally, for kitties and those household plants, lilies such as tiger lilies or rose lilies or Easter lilies, those can wreak havoc on kidneys. And watch out for those unlabeled palms that can be tempting for living room decor but detrimental for our pet's liver. Yikes.

37:56

Jordan Tyler

Then when it comes to lawn and garden insecticides, as we've learned are actually some of the most toxic things that we can use around our homes. So, use these with extreme caution and always follow the label. Also, any insecticides with carbamate organophosphate are particularly dangerous for pets, so make sure to watch out for that. The good news is when it comes to herbicides and ice melts, these things typically aren't a concern for pets. They're usually safe. As long as your pet isn't ingesting, you know, like an entire bag or chunks of these things at a time, it's probably just going to cause some digestive upset.

38:33

Dr. Stephanie Clark

And when it comes to fertilizers, these guys are big time followers. Think of that nice kid down the street who always seems to get into the wrong crowd. Fertilizers are fine. That poop's delicious! But when combined with herbicides, you are essentially putting a toxic chemical with some lovely palatant. So just be careful where we store those and how your dog can get into them.

38:58

Jordan Tyler

Super good point. It's not only these things alone. We also have to be careful about how we're combining them, how we're storing them in order to really keep our pets safe. But before you go throwing out your arsenal of household cleaning products and giving away all your house plants, keep in mind these things are innocent until proven guilty. You know, life happens sometimes. You do everything right. Some things are simply out of your control. But the most important thing is to know the risks. And as long as you understand them around these items and how to manage their safety and their health, that's half the battle right there, you know. So, it's just about making responsible choices as adults, as pet parents, adult responsible, my friends.

39:44

Dr. Stephanie Clark

And as we wrap up today, we've seen the same themes emerge again and again throughout this three part series. Concentration matters. Dose determines the poison. And our pets aren't just small humans, the entirely different species with unique vulnerabilities. Right?

40:01

Jordan Tyler

Just as we learned that concentrated essential oils pose more of a risk than more diluted things like candles that have essential oils in them. Those danger labels on things like drain cleaners and insecticides aren't just suggestions, they're warnings that these products mean serious business. And that business is not friendly business when it comes to your pets.

40:24

Dr. Stephanie Clark

And in case you haven't caught on already, our homes and gardens are filled with substances that require the same vigilance talents we used around a toddler. Because in many ways, that's exactly what our pets are: our children.

40:36

Jordan Tyler

Our children, and also little tiny babies that don't know anything. So, we just have to protect them. So, thanks for joining us in this second episode in this three part series. In the next episode, we'll close out this Toxicities Trilogy by venturing into perhaps the most dangerous rooms of all: the kitchen and the medicine cabinet. Well, the medicine cabinet's not really a room, but it's a dangerous place where lifesaving medications can actually become deadly threats. Until then, keep those cleaning products up high, those lilies out of your house. And when in doubt, call the experts.

41:17

Dr. Stephanie Clark

Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Barking Mad. If you want to learn more about BSM Partners, please visit us at www.bsmpartners.net. Don't forget to subscribe on your favorite leading podcast platform or share it with a friend to stay current on the latest pet industry trends and conversations.

41:39

Jordan Tyler

We'd also like to thank our dedicated team, Ada-Miette Thomas, Neeley Bowden, Kait Wright, Cady Wolf and Dr. Katy Miller. A special shout out to Lee Ann Hagerty and Michael Johnson in support of this episode and to David Perez for our original music in the intro and outro. See you next time!

42:04

Dr. Stephanie Clark

In the world of toxicities, these are the worst.

42:12

Jordan Tyler

[Laughing hysterically.] That's making it into the episode. Just a fair warning... I can't not include it.

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