Tips for earth-friendly pet care
August 26, 2011 by admin
Filed under Choosing Lingerie
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Posted Aug 25, 2011, 3:32 pm
Center for American Progress
Pets. People really love pets. Keeping an animal around means more
love from our furry (or scaly!) friends but also, most likely, more
messes. Making sure you have the right supplies on hand helps keep Fido
or Fluffy safe from toxic chemicals and helps protect the earth. Here
are a few basic items to keep in your pantry to combat accidents and
odors—all of which are nontoxic to pets and safe for the environment.
Baking soda
Baking soda’s greatest property is its ability to
soak up stink. Sprinkle it on carpets, rugs, and your pet’s bed or
favorite snuggling blanket, let it stand for 15 minutes, and then give
the treated areas a good vacuuming to remove lingering odors. You can
also give your dog or cat a quickie bath by dousing them with the white
stuff and then using a gentle brush to remove excess powder. This is
especially good for cats that hate water.
Baking soda can also be used in Fluffy’s litter box to keep it fresh
between scoops. And if you’re feeling particularly ambitious, you make your own cat litter
altogether using a small box of baking soda mixed with enough sandy
clay soil to cover two to three inches of the bottom of the liter box.
If canine or feline friends aren’t your style, bird and rabbit cages, ferret houses, and hamster homes can
be wiped down using a wet sponge sprinkled with baking soda. Use a thin
layer in the bottom of the cage to combat future odors as well.
Vinegar
Vinegar is another wonder deodorizer as it’s both a
solvent and antibacterial. If your pet has an accident inside, use a
white vinegar and warm water solution to remove the lingering smell,
which will discourage future accidents in the same place. Vinegar also can be used for litter box deep cleans—spray the box down with the
stuff and let it stand for 10 minutes before wiping away with a fresh
rag—and for cleaning cages and other small animal homes.
Looking to add some natural stones to your aquarium? Clean rocks you
collect from outside with vinegar to make sure you don’t introduce any
strange organisms to the aquarium’s delicate balance, and then rinse
them well with fresh water. If adding vinegar causes the rock to “fizzle,” you should leave it out of the mix. This likely means the rock will affect the tank’s pH balance.
Vinegar is good for more than just clean up. Use a few drops on
surfaces you don’t want your cat to sleep on or scratch to keep them
away. You also can use a solution of one part apple cider vinegar to
three parts water to soothe a pup’s irritated skin.
(Be sure to check with your vet, however, if you think your pet has a
serious medical issue.) And apple cider vinegar applied with a cotton
swab can also be used to combat ear yeast infections in dogs with floppy
ears.
Other options
Further nontoxic products that can be used to
clean up various pet-related messes include salt, which can be used to
remove hard water stains in fish tanks and aquariums (remember to rinse
with fresh water afterward); and club soda, lemon juice, and cream of
tartar, all of which can be used to treat stains (use a paste of lemon
juice and cream of tartar for best results).
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This article was published by the Center for American Progress.
