From drinking blue toilet water with cleaner to rolling on smelly objects, from eating poop from kitten’s litter to digging the yard. Dogs love doing unusual stuff.
If you wish to clean your toilet with cleaners but can not do so. Because your dog loves drinking toilet water that’s freshly cleaned with cleaner. Then you are not alone my friend.
Most dogs are perfectly fine even after they drink blue toilet water with cleaner. But that is not the case for every dog. So, if your dog just drank the toilet water, and you are worried? Want to know whether he needs to see the vet or not, then go on, read this article.
So, without further-a-do, let’s start!
Effects of Drinking Toilet Water With Cleaner
First things first.
The blue toilet water can not harm your dog. It is the same as the one that flows down from your toilet faucet. So, if you are observing any illness after your dog drank toilet water. It is because he drank toilet water with cleaner.
All of us use one or the other toilet cleaning products which in most cases is extremely dilute. Only if your dog drinks toilet water with a cleaner in large amounts, he may get sick. So, if you are wondering whether your toilet cleaner is poisonous or not, go on and read the blog.
Find the answer below.
E. Coli
Even if the water in the toilet tank is the same as the one that flows in other faucets, it is not okay to drink toilet water. It is not at all healthy for your little pooch. There is a lot of bacteria that stays in your toilet and goes into the water as well, especially if you do not clean the toilet often.
When your dog drinks that water full of bacteria he might get really sick. Also, you may even think before getting kisses from your fur baby after he drank toilet water.
The E. Coli bacteria in the toilet water can lead to Colibacillosis infection in your dog, if he regularly drinks toilet water with cleaner. This infection can even poison your dog’s blood. And when these poisonous blood flows in other parts of your dog’s body, he may have a multi-organ failure as well.
Antifreeze
Antifreeze is one of the strongest ingredients used in toilet water. It can make your dog so sick that they may even lose his life. This is a strong ingredient and if only a few tablespoons of it may kill any strong medium-sized dog.
It is very dangerous because when dog drinks toilet water most of the time they are not supervised and within minutes they will consume 4 to 5 tablespoons of antifreeze which could kill them.
The worst part about antifreeze is that after few hours of your dog drinking toilet water with antifreeze he will start vomiting, urinating a lot, staggering and drinking a lot of water. Later, he will seem completely fine. But after a day or two, you will see that your dog has had kidney failure.
Thus, even if you have the slightest doubt that your dog might have consumed antifreeze through any medium, take him to your vet immediately.
Toxic Cleaning Products
When I say that most of the toilet cleaners are diluted, I do not give a ‘Yes’ to let your dog drink toilet water as much as he wants. Because no matter how diluted your cleaning product is, it still contains some amount of harmful ingredients such as sodium peroxide, hypochlorite salts, sodium perborate, sodium hypochlorite and many more.
So, it is always better if you do not give your dog the access of the toilet tank and let him drink that water. Because these chemical products can damage your dog’s health.
Make sure that every time when you put any cleaning products in your toilet tank, keep the toilet seat down as well as the door to your toilet closed. After a few flushes, the proportion of the cleaning product will be much in the toilet water.
Other Diseases
When we are sick our urine and feces contains a lot of bacteria, even more as compared to when we are not sick. Many pet parents do not know a thing about this, thus unknowingly they harm their dogs.
And did you know that some human diseases and infections can pass on to your sweet canine as well? Your dog may consume over all these bacteria when he drinks the toilet water with cleaner.
The situation can get even worse if any of your family member is undergoing chemotherapy. It is because some medicines prescribed to a cancer patient is extremely toxic.
You must be extra careful when you take your dog to someone else’s home because you are totally unaware about the cleaning products they use in their toilet.
Treatment for Sick Dog Who Drank Blue Toilet Water
If your dog has drank only a little amount of blue toilet water with cleaner, then you do not have to worry a lot. Your canine will be perfectly fine. Your dog might suffer from an upset stomach. He might even vomit or diarrhea a little. If that is the case, you may give your dog some fresh water or milk. This will dilute the toilet water he has consumed.
But even after this if your dog does not seem to be doing fine, then you should immediately take your dog to your vet. Some products that contains strong chemical or toxic ingredients may lead to irritation in your dog’s fur, mouth and throat.
If you are using tablets or disks to clean your toilet tank, you must be very careful because they are very dangerous. Thus, it is best to take your dog to the vet as quickly as possible and make sure that your canine is perfectly okay.
Why Dog Drinks Toilet Water With Cleaner?
Now, that’s a question many pet parents asks.
The matter of fact is that dogs can not speak (AHH, life would be so easy if our dogs could speak!). Okay, sorry I just got distracted with that thought.
We can only guess why dogs drink blue toilet water with cleaner!
However, I am not going to make some random guesses here. I do not aim to waste your precious time. After a lot of research and experiments, I have come up with few reasons why dog drinks blue toilet water with cleaner.
The very first reason is convenience and accessibility. This is true for dogs who are tall and can easily reach the height of the toilet tank. If your tall canine finds the toilet seat open and all set for their head to dive in, why would they say no!
Another reason is that your dog’s water bowl is out in the open and chances are that dust particles or some other unwanted things fall in your dog’s bowl. Dogs hate drinking dirty water. Thus, they start looking for options.
So, if your dog feels that the water in the toilet tank is much cleaner as compared to the water in their bowl, they will not hesitate drinking toilet water with cleaner.
The last reason is that, dogs believe that flowing water is more fresh than stagnant water even if it is the water in the toilet tank. Thus, when you flush the toilet, dogs gets attracted to the flowing water and wants to drink it.
This is true especially during summers, because the water in your dog’s bowl gets warm quickly, so you must change the water frequently to stop your dog from drinking toilet water with cleaner.
FAQs
You should not allow your pup to drink water from the toilet bowl. This is because, even in the cleanest households, the toilet is still a breeding ground for bacteria and germs that could potentially make your pooch sick.
Moreover, besides the pathogens, there are chances that the toilet bowl water might even have trace amounts of cleaning products that you use, which could be even more dangerous if ingested.
The chances of toilet water making your dog sick is quite less.
Nevertheless, it also depends on how clean your toilet tank and bowl is. If it is not clean, chances are that your dog will get sick because of drinking toilet water. Although, the digestive system of dogs are much stronger and healthier than humans. The ability of their digestive system to kill germs and bacteria is high. Thus, chances of your dog getting sick is much lower.
But, the toilet cleaners that you use for cleaning your toilet tanks can be toxic to your canine.
Any cleaning product that is not dilute and is concentrated is toxic for your dog.
If any of your cleaning products includes ingredients such as chlorine, bleach, Formaldehyde, ammonia, or glycol ethers is very risky for your dog. These products if ingested can even cause diseases such as cancer, liver damage, anemia, or kidney damage.
Thus, while using such products to clean your toilet always put the toilet seat down and keep your toilet door closed.
Yes!
Toilet bowl cleaner contains an active chemical that are very toxic for your dog’s fur and health. That chemical is HCL. If ingested or inhaled, it can even lead to kidney damage, skin and eye irritation or irritation in the respiratory tract as well.
Toilet bowl cleaner also contains chlorine which is also very harmful to your dog.
The best way to keep dogs from drinking toilet owl water is by not giving him any access to the toilet. Always make sure that you keep the toilet seat down when not in use. Also, keep your toilet door closed, so that you do not can not enter your toilet.
To be more safe, you can always put a childproofed latch on your toilet seat, so that even large dogs can not get the access of the blue toilet water with cleaner.
Yes of course!
The calculation is very simple. The diluted toilet cleaners are all safe, whereas concentrated toilet cleaners are very harmful for your dogs.
So, every time, you are looking for a toilet cleaner, make sure you choose the one which is diluted and does not contain chlorine. Products such as Windex are perfectly diluted and safe, even if your dog ingests the blue toilet water with cleaner.
Bleach and Chlorine are the most dangerous ingredients for your dog. Never go for product that have bleach or chlorine.
Wrap Up
The best thing to do is not let your dog drink blue toilet water with cleaner. Instead, keep the water in your dog’s bowl fresh and clean, so that your dog does not look for other options. You need to make him happy with his water bowl.
To make your dog satisfied with his water bowl, you can buy him a water fountain bowl. Dogs love such types of water bowls, and they feel the water is fresh because it keeps on flowing.
Never forget to put your toilet seat down and shut your toilet door every time after you have used the washroom.
I am sure after reading this article, you would be very careful with your dog and not let him drink blue toilet water with cleaner.
References:
- Toilet Bowl Water and Your Pets: The Dangers Aren’t Always Crystal Clear. (2017, January 24). ASPCA. Retrieved August 25, 2022, from https://www.aspca.org/news/toilet-bowl-water-and-your-pets-dangers-arent-always-crystal-clear
- Brant, S. G. (2018, January 29). Should you use Cheerful Blue Cleaners in Toilets? VETzInsight – VIN. Retrieved August 25, 2022, from https://www.vin.com/vetzinsight/default.aspx?pid=756&catId=-1&id=8404626
Ellis is a retired veterinary technician and full-time contributor at DogLovesBest. He likes writing about pet health care tips and reviews the products that are useful for fidos on a daily basis.
Ellis also guardians a Siberian husky, Nova, and a cat named Shilly. They all live happily with his wife Ammy, and both the dogs on a seaside apartment in Queens, NY.