It doesn’t look very tasty to us, but dogs and cats find the sweet taste of antifreeze appealing and will drink it if they spot a puddle in your driveway or garage. As many as 10,000 cats and dogs die each year due to antifreeze poisoning. Ethylene glycol, the primary ingredient in antifreeze, is also dangerous to children if ingested. It only takes a small amount of antifreeze to kill a pet. One-quarter ounce will kill a cat and as little as 3 tablespoons can kill a medium-sized dog.
Poisoned animals will stagger around as if they are drunk. Vomiting may occur and the animal may seem to lack energy or seem depressed. Prompt veterinary treatment is essential to increase the chances of an animal surviving antifreeze poisoning.
You can prevent antifreeze poisoning by keeping antifreeze containers out of the reach of pets and children and by wiping up spills and leaks promptly. Snow globes also contain some antifreeze and should be cleaned up immediately if they break.
Several companies offer less toxic varieties of antifreeze, including Sierra, Prestone LowTox and Sta-Clean. While these types of antifreeze are safer, they can still cause poisoning if large quantities are ingested, and it is important to immediately clean up spills from the this type of antifreeze too. If you plan to use one of these less toxic types of antifreeze, you must first have the old antifreeze flushed out of your radiator. If you don’t, the old and new antifreeze will mix together and still be poisonous.
