4 More Ways to Pet-Proof Your Plumbing

According to the American Pet Product Association, approximately sixty-eight percent of US households have a pet. That’s nearly one hundred million households! Nearly one hundred million households have to account for the potential problems that come with having pets. Pets tend to put a special strain on all kinds of household fixtures–especially plumbing.

Last time, we covered a few ways to protect your plumbing from pets (and vice versa) and we only scratched the surface. Here are four more tips you should follow to pet-proof your home’s plumbing. Keep up with each one of these best practices, and you should never have to worry about pet plumbing problems again.

Cover up exposed pipes

It’s the same idea as childproofing a home. Just like children love to open cabinet doors, pets love to chew on things. Avoid an unnecessary trip to the vet by covering up exposed pipes and wires.

If a pet bites through a pipe, fixing the resulting burst could be a pricey problem. It might also damage the surrounding home or, worst of all, hurt your pet! Turn concealing your home’s piping into a fun creative project. You’ll protect your home, your plumbing, and your pet all at once.

Keep plenty of water out

Pets drink out of the toilet because they’re thirsty. If you make sure they always have something else to drink, they generally stay out of toilet water. As a general rule, check on and top off your pet’s water bowl at least twice a day. Make sure they always have a non-toilet drinking option, and they’ll use it.

Rinse dirty pets off outside

Rolling around in the mud and muck is every dog’s dream, but it can also be a plumbing nightmare. When you wash a muddy dog off in the bath, it’s guaranteed to lose tons of muddy, matted fur. Unfortunately, that muddy, matted fur clumps together just as stubbornly in a drain as it does on your dog. Nothing can create a clog quite as quickly or reliably as a muddy dog bath.

To counteract the worst of the drain-clogging potential, we recommend stages of dog bathing. Pre-rinse your dog while you’re still outside to remove the worst of the grime. Once you’ve removed enough mud to see the dog underneath, take them inside to finish the job. If you rinse your dog outside, at least your pipes won’t have to contend with a deadly mud-fur combo.

Keep cleaning chemicals out of reach

If pets get into your bathroom cleaning supplies, they could make themselves seriously sick. Make sure your bathroom cleaners are either up out of reach or behind locked cabinet doors.

Avoid having chemical drain cleaners in the first place. Not only are chemical drain cleaners poisonous to pets, they’re actually damaging to the pipes, too.

If your beloved family pet has caused a plumbing problem, don’t worry. Just call the professionals at Len The Plumber. No matter how stubborn the clog or bad the burst, we have just what you need to fix it.