Swiffer WetJet Poisonous to Pets?

[DogGoneGood]

I heard this morning from a co-worker that Swiffer WetJet mops cleaning solution is dangerous to pets. The rummor was that the cats/dogs walk across the wet floor, pick up the solution off the floor onto their paws and then lick their paws, thus injesting a harmful toxin in the cleaner that is "one molecule away from Anti-Freeze".

I guess an e-mail has been sent around with a little story and warning about this product with no reliable source actually in the e-mail with parts of the puzzle missing. Below is the e-mail being sent around...

Warning for your animal's health:

I recently had a neighbor who had to have their 5-year old German Shepherd dog put down due to liver failure. The dog was completely healthy until a few weeks ago, so they had a necropsy done to see what the cause was. The liver levels were unbelievable, as if the dog had ingested poison of some kind. The dog is kept inside, and when he's outside, someone's with him, so the idea of him getting into something unknown was hard to believe. My neighbor started going through all the items in the house. When he got to the Swiffer Wet jet, he noticed, in very tiny print, a warning which stated "may be harmful to small children and animals." He called the company to ask what the contents of the cleaning agent are and was astounded to find out that anitfreeze is one of the ingredients. (actually he was told it's a compound which is one molecule away from anitfreeze). Therefore, just by the dog walking on the floor cleaned with the solution, then licking it's own paws, and the dog eating from its dishes which were kept on the kitchen floor cleaned with this product, it ingested enough of the solution to destroy its liver. Soon after his dog's death, his housekeepers' two cats also died of liver failure. They both used the Swiffer Wetjet for quick cleanups on their floors. Necropsies weren't done on the cats, so they couldn't file a lawsuit, but he asked that we spread the word to as many people as possible so they don't lose their animals. .

I looked into this. Jared and I used Swiffer and so does my sister so this was a natural concern for me (although I never let the animals walk on a freshly cleaned floor... who wants paw prints all over their floor when they just washed it?!), I decided it was worth looking into. The two sites I looked at both said it was an urban myth...

So have no fear. While I'm sure the product, like most cleaning products, CAN still be dangerous to your pets if ingested... like MOST cleaning products it should be kept out of reach of pets and children as I'm sure drinking a substantial amount could seriously harm your pet. However, by simply cleaning the floor and having your dog walk over it doesn't seem to be something one should worry about.

It's always better to be safe and know the facts

Here are the websites I came up with... the first didn't seem to clear it up for me as it was a lot of "the company is saying it's not true" whereas I don't completely trust big companies who want to cover their ass and won't openly admit their product is dangerous. The next website seems to have more facts on the myth that to me, are a lot more believable.

urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_swiffer_wetjet.htm

www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/swiffer.asp

[lilredridinghood]

Thanks for the info Shara! When I saw the title I was on the verge of freaking out, but to my relief it was an urban myth.

PS Deli's tail is hitting me in the face right now.