Protect Your Pet

So even the smallest spills or radiator leaks can be very harmful to pets, seriously damaging their kidneys or killing them. The center had 510 reports of pet antifreeze poisoning during a 2.5-year period ending in December 1997, with most pets poisoned in their owner's garage from antifreeze that leaked from a faulty radiator. Of those, 16 percent of the pets died. But many more cases go unreported, according to Steve Hansen, the center's director.

Antifreeze does its damage fast, Albretsen says. An animal that has ingested antifreeze should be brought to a veterinarian quickly, ideally within 12 hours and no longer than 24 hours.

"Usually by 24 hours you're starting to see damage to the kidneys," Albretsen says. "If you catch it fairly early, we can do other things to decontaminate or get it out of their system before the dog or cat can absorb it."

Warning signs
Some people don't realize a pet has lapped up the poison and miss signs that something is wrong, he says.

"Antifreeze is going to act a little bit like alcohol in that it's going to make them depressed in nature and stumbling around and weak and lethargic," he says, adding that pet owners "may not notice. They'll think their dog is just out of it today."

Then they'll notice other symptoms, but possibly too late. "When they start seeing that they're not producing urine or are getting very, very sick or just can't get up at all, at that point there could be serious damage. At that point it's very difficult to take care of," he says.

Albretsen and others say pets are attracted to antifreeze because it tastes sweet. That's really not the case, says Heather Gillette of Keiler & Company, a marketing firm employed by Prestone Products Corp.

"There's sort of a myth out there that it's sweet and animals like it," she says. But Prestone has conducted tests that show pets will drink it just because it's sitting around, not necessarily because of the taste.

The company has experimented with additives designed to make the product less appealing to pets, but none have stopped them from taking that first taste, Gillette says.

"Dogs will drink first and ask questions later," she says. That makes it much more important to be careful storing, changing and disposing of antifreeze, she says.

Prevention tips
Prestone and the Animal Poison Control Center offer the same tips on how to avoid pet poisoning.

• Store antifreeze containers away from pets.
• Check your driveway and under your car regularly for antifreeze leaks.
• Thoroughly clean up spills and discard cleaning rags where pets can't reach them.
• Keep pets away from the area when changing antifreeze.
• Immediately clean up the spill when your engine boils over, no matter where you are.
• Take a pet to the vet immediately if you even suspect it's been exposed to antifreeze.

Although Prestone and other companies market propylene glycol antifreeze that is five times less toxic to pets, it doesn't mean the product is completely safe, says Hansen.

"It certainly gives people a feeling there's a safety margin there, but it's not huge," he says, but adds, "I would much prefer to be handling a case where a dog got propylene glycol than ethylene glycol."