We often think about childproofing our toilets, cabinets, and more, but our pets can get into just as many messes as a child can. From drinking toilet water to digging up pipes, pets can inadvertently cause a lot of damage and issues to your plumbing.
Here are some tips on pet-proofing your central Florida plumbing, whether you are in Lakeland, Plant City, Winter Haven, or a nearby city.
If possible, bathe your pets outside and then cover the tub drain.
Dog and cat fur can get muddy quickly, and washing all that mud and grime down your pipes can lead to a clog that you’ll have to work to eliminate. Instead of directly putting that debris into your plumbing system, try to hose them off outside before putting them in the tub. Once they are in the tub, make sure the drain is covered with something that will stop their hair from going into the pipes. Pet hair mats together with soap the same way human hair does, and what eats through hair in a drain covers what will and will not shift it. Preventing a clog now saves you a professional drain cleaning later, and our tips to keep your drains from getting clogged work just as well on a bathtub.
Make sure your pet’s water bowl is always full.
If you have a dog or kitty who’s prone to try and drink out of the toilet, then there are easy ways to avoid that problem. If you ensure your pet has a full water bowl, then they will leave the toilet bowl water alone. Some pets will still be determined to drink from the toilet, so keep the lid closed. Drinking toilet water can be hazardous to your pets, especially if you use an in-tank cleaning tablet. Those tablets are also hard on the flapper and fill valve, which is how most homes end up needing toilet repair sooner than they should.
Learn where your plumbing pipes are in your yard.
Many pups like to dig in the dirt, but this can end up causing large plumbing problems. Water and sewer lines are buried under the ground, sometimes only about 12 to 18 inches deep. If your dog digs deeply enough, they could find the pipes and damage them. Learn where your lines run and you can keep the dogs away from those areas. A cracked line out in the yard shows up as a soggy patch or a sewer backup indoors, and on a septic property, digging over the drain field causes damage that is expensive to undo. Before you dig anywhere yourself, call 811 for free utility locates.
Do not flush pet waste or kitty litter down the toilet.
The only things that should ever be flushed down your toilet are human waste and toilet paper. Clumping litter is the worst offender, since it is designed to swell and harden with water. Anything else builds up in your pipes and causes a clog, as our list of things you should never flush down your toilet explains. The same goes for the wipes people use on muddy paws, covered in are flushable wipes harming your plumbing. If it does back up, what to do if your toilet overflows tells you where to start.
Keep cabinets locked so pets can’t access pipes or cleaning chemicals.
Under your cabinet lie many hazards for pets. They can get in, chew on pipes, and then cause damage to themselves or the pipes. They can also get into cleaning chemicals stored underneath sinks, which can be fatal if ingested. Keep those cabinets locked or use babyproofing materials. A chewed supply line or a knocked loose connection under the vanity leaks quietly into the cabinet floor, so it is worth checking under there when you are done, and calling for faucet and supply line repair if anything is damp. Hidden damp spots elsewhere in the house are a job for leak detection.
Do you have a pet-related plumbing problem? Contact our team now!
The plumbing team at True Plumbers & AC handles 24 hour emergency plumbing, including the messes your pets create. Give us a call at (863) 667-6364 if you are in Lakeland, Plant City, Winter Haven, or a nearby Florida city.
