Cleaners and your dog

Keep them out of the room while you clean and until the surface is completely dry. That is it. Whatever you use, this prevents most of what actually happens.

Quaternary ammonium compounds (quats): Usually listed as benzalkonium chloride, and the top active ingredient in most disinfecting wipes and sprays. It can cause corrosive injury to tissue it contacts. Even small ingestions can cause drooling, raised temperature and tongue ulcers; larger amounts can cause bloody diarrhea, seizures and collapse. Cats are more sensitive still, because of grooming.

Phenols: Found in disinfectant sprays, toilet cleaners, and many products whose names end in -sol. They can be absorbed through skin and paw pads, and cats are especially sensitive. Household concentrations are lower than they once were, but a wet floor is still direct contact.

Ammonia: Often listed as ammonium hydroxide, in glass cleaners and some wipes. Corrosive, and irritating to eyes and airways when aerosolized.

Bleach: Sodium hypochlorite. Harmful if ingested, and it is also one of the few things that reliably kills parvovirus, so it has a genuine place. Dilute, rinse, dry, and never mix it with anything.

Phthalates and fragrance: In air fresheners, carpet powders and plug-ins. Worth remembering that a dog's nose is vastly more sensitive than yours, so anything you find strong is overwhelming to them.

· Enzymatic cleaner for anything organic — urine, vomit, feces. Enzymes remove the scent marker; everything else just covers it, and a covered marker invites a repeat.
· Accelerated hydrogen peroxide for disinfecting. Many shelters use it, it handles parvo, and it breaks down into water and oxygen.
· Steam, where you can. Heat sanitizes with no chemistry at all.
· Unscented castile soap for routine floors and surfaces.
· Plain hot water and a microfiber cloth for most day-to-day cleaning, honestly.

“Natural” is not “safe”. Tea tree, pine, citrus, wintergreen and several other oils are toxic to dogs, and a diffuser puts them into the air continuously and onto the coat. If you use a diffuser, the dog needs to be able to leave the room.

Call Pet Poison Helpline on (855) 764-7661 or ASPCA Animal Poison Control on (888) 426-4435, with the bottle in your hand so you can read the ingredients. Do not induce vomiting with hydrogen peroxide or anything else unless a veterinary professional tells you to — with a corrosive product, bringing it back up burns a second time.

Drooling, pawing at the mouth, vomiting, redness or ulcers on the tongue or gums, sore or red paws, squinting or rubbing eyes, coughing, or unsteadiness. Any of these after cleaning is a phone call.