The weather outside is getting quite frightful. Despite the ice, snow and cold your furry friends still need to be walked and let outside. While it’s important to ensure you don’t slip while walking your dog family member(s), it’s equally as important to protect their paws from the harsh chemicals in many ice melt products. Luckily for you and your dog family there are many pet safe ice melt products readily available.
Read the Label
Just as when seeking food that’s safe for people with allergies to eat, reading the label on ice melt is important. The front label is full of marketing information and is designed to look and sound good. The specifics on the back can be quite revealing.
Things to Avoid
Chlorides
Also known as salt ice melt, chloride based ice melts are the cheapest products on the market. Unfortunately, they’re also the least safe for puppy paws and the environment. Rounded edge salt based products may promote themselves as being dog safe as the edges are less likely to cut the pads of your pets’ paws, but they bits can still be wedged between their toes and are toxic if eaten during grooming.
Calcium Magnesium Acetate (CMA)
By itself, CMA is not terribly effective and the results don’t last long. It’s frequently combined with chlorides to increase effectiveness. CMA is toxic and extracts moisture from surfaces. Both properties make it a poor choice for homes with pets.
Urea
Although less toxic and corrosive than many of its counterparts, unless it’s treated urea can still be harmful. It’s also considered a pollutant by the EPA because of the nitrates components. The treatment to make urea completely safe is costly, so not all ice melt manufacturers will invest in it.
Things to Buy
Modified Crystalline Carbondyl Diamide
This ingredient is safe for both animals and the environment. It works by disrupting the hydrogen bonds formed in ice and then absorbing the liquid created much like a sponge.
Eco Safe Glycol
Using an infusion process glycol can be transformed to boost its ice melting abilities and increase traction.
Other Ingredients
Colorants
Many “safe” ice melt products contain colorants such as blue or green. Provided that these are food grade in case they’re ingested by your pet, colorants are not an issue. Lower quality coloring products can be toxic if ingested.
Safe Paw
These neat green crystals are completely salt free, making it safer for the environment too. Safe Paw is safe for all surfaces and won’t leave color stains. As the crystals heat up, they melt ice and leave behind a shield to prevent ice from reforming for up to three days. The patented technology uses a two-way time released technology to speed up melting while protecting dog paws and providing traction for you. Check out the label yourself using the above guide to verify its truly safe for your dog’s paws.
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