Ice Melt Rule of Thumb

Ice Melt Rule of Thumb

Baby, it's cold out there! It is in the Midwest, at least. Gulf state residents, read no further, because today's topic is one that will baffle you. Up here in winterland, we often sprinkle our paved surfaces with granular material that uses chemistry in persuading nearby ice to melt. It helps keep the humans upright and our cars between the lines. In wool socks and boots, we humans rarely take notice of the stuff—except when it is absent—but our pets are a different story.

The cold itself can be taxing on bare cat or dog feet and limits outdoor excursions, but ice-melting granules in themselves will also damage skin. The pellets can be a bit sharp, but their real purpose is to interact with water (in its solid form) and bring about a radical change. The average dog is about 60% water, so practically every part of him is vulnerable to ice melt. Wet skin activates the granules, and so does the moisture inside the GI tract. Dried and cracking feet are pretty common, due to direct exposure. Surface irritation and burns can occur inside the mouth, so pellets should be completely removed from your pet's fur—by you—before he takes the initiative to do that himself. Swallowed ice melt can damage the inside of the esophagus and stomach, causing vomit and diarrhea that may contain blood. That's no walk in the park, but the worst-case scenario is internal electrolyte disturbances after eating large quantities. With certain compounds, this can result in tremors, seizures, and death.

If you live in my part of the country, you really need this stuff to treat your slippery surfaces; in many communities, it’s illegal to leave untended ice on the sidewalk in front of your home. Because it needs to be chemically active in order to be effective, there isn't really a type that's totally risk-free. “Pet-safe” and “pet-friendly” labels aren’t completely reliable, you will find, so here’s a tip for buying ice melt: the ones that are worst for stomach and skin, even the ones that can kill, are the same ones that sound familiar and harmless: calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium. Aren't these things you eat every day? These exact compounds are used in our salt shakers and our vitamins, but they’ve been highly concentrated to produce ice melt. These are the ones that have most potential to hurt your pet.

A safer variety of ice melt is the one that actually doesn’t sound like something you’d eat or swallow in tablet form: carbonyl diamide with glycol, also known as urea. (Don’t worry, that isn’t the glycol of super-toxic antifreeze but its much friendlier cousin.) We’re not all chemists. So if you find yourself in the ice melt aisle and cannot visualize a list of safe chemicals, remember: don’t be tempted by the ones that contain salt or something that could pass for a vitamin. In their highly concentrated form, these are the ones that pose the greatest threat to your pet.

Dr. M.S. Regan