Carbon Monoxide Safety for Pets

Like all members of the family, pets are just as susceptible to the dangers of CO. But, some pet parents may not know how to spot the symptoms. Kidde is sharing important advice to help people protect their furry family members.

Sources of Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is created by any fuel-burning appliance. When power outages occur during emergencies such as hurricanes or winter storms, the use of alternative sources of fuel or electricity for heating, cooling, or cooking can cause CO to build up in a home, garage, or camper and poison the people and animals inside.

Common sources of CO in our homes include:

• Heaters
• Gas Stoves and Ovens
• Generators
• Grills
• Fires & Chimneys
• Cars

Know the Signs

The first signs of CO poisoning in pets are typically nausea and vomiting, followed by difficulty breathing. Most symptoms of CO poisoning or carbon monoxide toxicity in pets are nonspecific, meaning they could easily be attributed to other illnesses. It's important to keep working CO alarms throughout the home.

Here's a short list of symptoms*:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Labored or difficulty breathing
• Sleepiness or lethargy
• Uncoordinated movement
• Disturbances in gait
• Seizures
• Heart arrhythmia
• Coughing
• Deafness
• Blindness
• Coma

Detecting CO in Your Home

The best and simplest way to detect the presence of carbon monoxide in your home is with a CO alarm. The way CO travels is different than smoke, it can travel anywhere in the home - even through drywall! With most homes, 1 alarm is not ideal protection. Consider installing more than 1 alarm on each level of your home. Pay careful attention to rooms where you and your family spend a great deal of time including living areas, bedrooms and hallways.

IMPORTANT: EVERY ALARM MUST BE REPLACED AT A MINIMUM OF 10 YEARS. In addition to testing alarms once each week and replacing batteries (where applicable), check the installation date too. If you have forgotten when they were installed, there's a simple fix: look on the back of the alarm for the manufacturing date and add 10 years.

Plan ahead

Save contact information for your veterinarian in a place where you and other family members can easily access it, such as your phone contacts or a cloud-based shared file. Also, be sure your pet's microchip information is current in case you become separated in an emergency.

_{*Source: Fitzgerald, K.D. (2006). Carbon Monoxide. In M.D. Peterson, Small Animal Toxicology (Second Edition) (pp. 619-628). doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-72-160639-3/50038-1}