Is Swiffer cleaner harmful to pets?

There are two types of warnings about household products: stories spurred by personal experience and general concern for the wellbeing of other people or pets, and those sparked by a desire for attention or to generate a high-profile hoax.

The missive seems to fall into the latter category.There is a lot about this anonymous message that is wrong or unverifiable.

A neighbor's German Shepherd dog had to be put down due to health issues.The dog had a necropsy done to find out what happened after it was completely healthy.It looked like the dog had taken some kind of poison.The idea of the dog getting into something unknown was hard to believe because he is kept inside and someone is with him outside.My neighbor was going through the house.He called the company to ask what the contents of the cleaning agent are and was astounded to find out that antifreeze is one of them.He was told that it was a compound that was one molecule away from anitfreeze, so he cleaned the floor and the dog ate from its dishes on the kitchen floor.

His dogs and cats died of liver failure after his death.The Swiffer Wetjet was used to clean their floors.He asked that we spread the word to as many people as possible so that they don't lose their animals because of necropsies done on the cats.

The message doesn't give any information about the writer or the pet owners, so there's no way to verify its contents.It was posted to many different dog-related newsgroups and mailing lists, always by a second-hand source who had received it in e-mail.

A number of other alarmist scares we have seen, such as one about margarine, are indicative of the claims that the cleaning agent used with the Swiffer WetJet is antifreeze.

There are two compounds found in de-icing solutions.The former has been identified as posing a danger to pets, but propylene glycol is much safer than ethylene glycol, which is generally recognized as safe for use in food, it is found in a variety of medicines.

The Swiffer Wetjet cleaning solution contains an ingredient that is found in many different brands and types of household cleaning products.If this compound posed a significant risk of causing fatal liver damage in cats and dogs, we should be hearing about many more pet deaths associated with cleaning products other than the Swiffer WetJet.Also note that the danger posed to pets by antifreeze has to do with kidneys failure, not the destruction of the liver as claimed in the message.

We looked at the warning labels on every Swiffer WetJet product we could find at our local stores, and none of them said that the product may be harmful to small children and animals.The Swiffer WetJet Power Mop with Jet-Action Sprayer, the Wood Floor Cleaner, and the Multi-Purpose Cleaner all had the same label.In case of eye contact, flush thoroughly.This is the standard warning label found on virtually every household cleaning product to inform users that cleaning agents are caustic and may be harmful if they come into direct contact with the eye.

The Swiffer warning was presented in block letters and in darker type than the rest of the message, all of which were listed in three languages: English, French, and Spanish.After an expanded caution about not getting the product into one's eyes and the procedure forflushing exposed eyes with water, it concluded, "contact a Poison Control Center or doctor for treatment advice."When calling the Poison Control Center or going for treatment, have the product container or label with you.

The warning about getting the solution into one's eyes was the only part of the label that mentioned children or pets.No Swiffer product warned users that its toxicity might pose a danger to children or pets, as suggested by the message quoted above.

The Swiffer WetJet cleaning system was described on the website as an all-in-one, ready-to-use mopping system.The previous "Swiffer Q&A" section was devoted to the question of whether the product is safe to use around pets.

Is Swiffer safe for animals?What if my pet licks the floor?If your pet licks its paws after walking on a wet floor, it will be fine.Water or milk can be offered to help remove the perfume taste from your pet's mouth.Even a small amount of the Swiffer solution would not be expected to cause a lot of problems.

We're glad you came to us for the facts about the rumor.SwifferWet cloths and WetJet liquid solution do not contain any ingredients that are similar to antifreeze.In the US, Swiffer products have been used in over 15 million homes for over five years.

The SwifferWet Cloths and WetJet cleaners were found to be safe by independent veterinarians and scientists.There is a rumor on the site of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.You can find a link to their home page at http://www.aspca.org.

The health and well-being of our pets is very important to us.Please help us stop this rumor by sharing the truth with others.

Swiffer WetJet was described on the website as safe for use in households with pets.

The statement from the Animal Poison Control Center declared the rumor to be false.

The claim about a relationship between Swiffer Wet Jet and liver failure in a dog has been reviewed by veterinary toxicologists at the Animal Poison Control Center.The dog died because of exposure to the ingredients in Swiffer Wet Jet.

The Swiffer Wet Jet system has water and alcohol.When used according to the directions on the label, these ingredients are safe to use around pets.There is a potentially toxic ingredient in most antifreeze products.Dogs are more likely to suffer from renal failure following ingestion of ethylene glycol.There are very safe ingredients in cleaning products that do not cause harm to the body.

When beloved, apparently healthy animal companions die for no obvious reason, and in their grief, they understandably try to make sense of the otherwise unexplainable by finding something to which the deaths can be attributed, one possibility is that most pet owners are quite distraught.People tend to blame agents that may have only a coincidental connection to events.A pet owner re-carpets his home and his dogs suddenly die a week later.Many people assume that the new carpeting must have been connected to the death of the dogs, but more evidence is needed to make that conclusion.The deaths of the dogs may have been caused by a combination of factors unrelated to carpeting.After the new carpeting was installed, the residents took to removing their shoes upon entering the house, and the dogs began to chew or lick them, thereby picking up some kind of toxin or illness-causing biological agent.