Safety Tips For Your Plumbing When You Have Pets
Pets are playful and careless. However, during their playtime, they can accidentally cause damage to your household plumbing. Whether it’s chewing pipes or digging up holes in the backyard, pets can cause serious plumbing issues. And we all know that it costs a fortune to repair them. Here are some safety tips for your plumbing when you have pets. If you need any plumbing services anywhere in the Lower Mainland or Fraser Valley contact Murrayville Plumbing & Heating Ltd. We offer 24/7 Emergency Plumbing Services!
However, that’s not the only reason why one should incorporate pet-proof plumbing in their house. Pets can also get seriously hurt if they mess with pipes. Pet-proofing your plumbing will make both the owner and the pet safe. And not just that — it will save loads of money.
Continue reading, as we’ll discuss some safety tips for your plumbing when you have pets in your home.
1. Cover the drains
If we own a small animal, such as a bird or a hamster, we need to cover our drains. Small pets can escape their cage, roam around the house, and then run into an open drain. We need to make sure that our pet can’t get inside the drain; otherwise, they might get stuck there forever.
It’s better to spend some time on getting pet-proof plumbing than running a risk of losing a dear friend, isn’t it?
2. Close the toilet lid
Many animals like to drink the toilet water, whether they are thirsty or not. The problem is — this water is seriously toxic, although it looks clean.
When we wash the toilet bowl, we usually use a cleaner of some kind. But even if we rinse it out, the water is still contaminated with chemicals. In addition, some people like to place toilet fresheners in the bowl, which are just as dangerous. So if our pet drinks this water, it might get seriously sick.
We need to always make sure that the toilet lid is closed. However, if the pet is clever, it might figure out how to open it. In that case, one should consider installing an automatic closing mechanism.
3. Use drain stoppers when bathing the pet
Four-legged pets typically shed a lot. The more fur they have, the more they shed, especially during spring and autumn. There’s no way to avoid shedding, so we might as well get accustomed to it.
Yet many people believe that bathing their pet will help with its shedding. This may be true, but there’s one important thing to pay attention to — the shower drain. The shower drain can easily get clogged if we let all the hair go down it.
Why is that such a big deal, one might ask. Well, for starters, the water will start pooling in the bathtub, shower, or sink. If we don’t unclog the drain immediately, the water will start overflowing and get all over the house. This water is horribly dirty and full of bacteria, so it’s best to prevent it from getting everywhere. We can use chemicals to unclog the drain, but then there’s a risk of damaging the pipes.
Long story short — we need to use a drain stopper when we’re bathing our pet. This pet-proof plumbing hack will spare everyone a lot of hassle.
4. If the pet is muddy, bathe it outside
When our pet gets dirty from being outside, we shouldn’t run to the bathroom right away. We should rinse it off outside first. We need to ensure that all of the mud has washed off completely.
If we don’t bathe our pet outside first and let the mud go down the bathroom drain, we might face serious consequences. Even if we use a drain stopper, the mud will fill up the tub nonetheless. The water will also start pooling, and we’ll end up with a huge mess that will take hours to clean. Not to mention how unhygienic it is!
5. Don’t flush cat litter
There are quite a few things we should never flush down the toilet, and cat litter is definitely on the top of the list. In fact, only waste and toilet paper are considered safe to flush.
When we flush kitty litter, we run the risk of clogging the toilet. And everybody knows how unfortunate that is! It’s also disgusting, and it takes a lot of time to fix. So it’s best to avoid flushing the cat litter altogether, even if it says ‘flushable’ on the package.
And not just that — we mustn’t flush cat faeces either. Their faeces contain Toxoplasma, a parasite that can easily affect humans. The diseases one can get from Toxoplasma are numerous, and they all have awful side effects.
6. Lock away the cleaning chemicals
Most pets are curious, and they will try to eat everything they see. That being said, we should never leave the chemicals just lying around the house.
These cleaning chemicals are usually very strong. They can burn through the drains and pipes when they come in contact, let alone the pet. So, we need to make sure that we’ve hidden them somewhere the pet cannot reach them. Otherwise, the situation may be lethal for the pet.
As we can see, pet-proof plumbing does not only prevent damages in our house/apartment. It can also save our pet’s life.
7. Prevent the pet from digging up the yard
Of course, the fact that they’ll ruin our beautiful garden isn’t the only reason why we should prevent them from digging. The sewer lines are sometimes beneath the very surface of the ground. If the pet comes across a sewer pipe while digging, it might accidentally crack a hole in it. Trust us — that’s not something one wants, considering the repair might cost thousands of dollars.
We need to be alert and stop them from digging as soon as we notice. But if we want to fix the problem in the long term, then we should get rid of rodents, play with our pets more, take them out more often, etc.
8. Cover the pipes
Pets, dogs especially, love to chew on things, and pipes are some of their favorite toys. However, we should not let them do it. We need to cover the pipes in order to prevent our pet from reaching them.
If our pet chews a hole in a pipe, the consequences can be various. First of all, this can badly hurt them. Secondly, water will burst out of the pipe and thus damage the surroundings.
This problem also takes a lot of money and time to fix. Water can get into every crevice of the walls or floor and damage our home permanently.
9. Make sure there are pressure-balancing valves in the shower
Nobody likes an unpleasant surprise — not us, nor our pet. And getting scolded with a sudden splash of hot water is certainly an unpleasant experience. This occurs when we don’t have pressure-balancing valves. Therefore, we should install them, and the problem will be solved.
To sum up, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Pet-proof plumbing will spare both us, the owners, and our pet the unnecessary trouble. After pet-proofing our plumbing, we’ll be able to sleep a bit better knowing that we are safe!