Laundry and dish detergents contain chemicals that are unsafe for animals. Detergent pods pose a bigger risk than bottled liquid detergents or detergent powders.
 
Toxic Ingredients
Detergents contain anionic and nonionic surfactants, which lift dirt and oil off of surfaces and fabrics. These types of surfactants cause mild irritation to the skin and eyes. If swallowed, they can cause vomiting.
 
Fabric softeners, disinfectants, and sanitizing solutions sometimes contain cationic surfactants, which are more corrosive than anionic and nonionic surfactants. Cats are especially sensitive to cationic surfactants. Direct contact can injure the skin, and cats that lick these products from their paws or fur can also have damage to the mouth and digestive tract.
 
Some detergents are alkaline (they have a high pH, the opposite of acids). Concentrated alkaline products damage the stomach if swallowed. Detergents might also contain ethanol and other potentially toxic ingredients.
 
Detergent Pods
Animals (mainly dogs) that bite detergent pods are at higher risk than animals that lick liquid detergents or detergent powders. Even when the ingredients are similar, the consequences of exposure are more serious with detergent packaged in pods.
 
Detergent in pods is concentrated and under pressure. When a tooth punctures a pod, the detergent sprays the inside of the mouth, from where it is swallowed, inhaled into the lungs, or both. Animals that lick spilled liquid detergent aren’t likely to consume very much of it because it doesn’t taste good. In comparison, dogs that bite detergent pods get a larger dose of product at a higher concentration.
 
The most severe effects of detergent exposure are lung inflammation and pneumonia, which happen when detergent—or vomit that contains detergent—is inhaled into the lungs. Pneumonia can be fatal, so it’s possible for dogs that chew detergent pods to die.
 
Signs of Detergent Toxicosis

• Vomiting (the most common sign)
• Coughing, wheezing, labored breathing
• Low energy
• Low appetite
• Pawing at the mouth
• Drooling
• Irritated skin or eyes

 
If Your Pet Is Exposed

• If your pet swallows detergent or chews a detergent pod, contact an animal poison control hotline or your veterinarian, even if your pet doesn’t have symptoms yet. Have the product label with the list of ingredients handy when you call.
• Do not try to make your pet vomit. Vomiting increases the risk of inhaling detergent and developing pneumonia.
• If your pet has detergent on the skin or fur, rinse the area with water until all of the detergent is gone.
• If your pet has detergent in the eyes, wipe the product away with eye wash or a wet cloth if you can (don’t put yourself at risk of being bitten). Take your pet to a veterinary clinic right away for thorough eye washing and an eye exam.

 
Sources

• Handley HG, Hovda LR. Risks of exposure to liquid laundry detergent pods compared to traditional laundry detergents in dogs. J Vet Emerg Crit Care (San Antonio). 2021;31(3):396-401. doi:10.1111/vec.13057
• Ingredients and toxicities of cleaning products. ASPCApro. Accessed April 17, 2023. https://www.aspcapro.org/resource/ingredients-toxicities-cleaning-products

 
Image source: Antonio Jose Cespedes on Pixabay

Uveitis is inflammation inside the eye. Some of the many conditions that cause uveitis affect the whole body, so a diagnosis of uveitis often triggers a series of tests to find the cause.
 
The uvea is a pigmented layer within the eye. The iris, which gives the eye its color, is the part of the uvea that you can see when you look at your pet’s eyes. The other structures of the uvea (ciliary body and choroid) are behind the iris, sandwiched between other layers of the eye.
 
The uvea has a blood supply to deliver nutrients to the eye, so anything that can travel through blood vessels—like infectious organisms and cancer cells—can reach the uvea and cause uveitis. The uvea also produces and drains fluid within the eye. Inflammation of the uvea interferes with fluid balance inside the eye, so untreated uveitis can lead to glaucoma (increased eye pressure) and blindness.
 
Causes
Some of the things that cause uveitis are problems with the eye itself:

• Cataract
• Trauma to the eye (like a blow to the face or a poke from a cat claw)
• Corneal ulcer
• Corneal infection
• Cancer of the eye

 
Problems outside the eye can also cause uveitis:

• Viral, bacterial, or fungal infection that spreads throughout the body
• Cancer that spreads to the eye
• Immune-mediated disease
• Diabetes and other metabolic disorders
• Adverse drug effect

 
Signs
Uveitis causes the same nonspecific signs of eye trouble (like redness) as nearly every other eye disorder. It can also cause changes that are more specific to inflammation inside the eye, like a change in iris color. Animals with uveitis sometimes have no obvious signs at all.
 
These are some of the signs of uveitis:

• Redness of the white part of the eye
• Squinting
• Iris color change
• Blood inside the eye (behind the clear cornea at the front of the eye)
• Change in pupil shape
• Difference in pupil sizes of the 2 eyes
• Cloudy appearance of the eye
• Blindness

 
Diagnosis
Uveitis is diagnosed by examining the eye with an ophthalmoscope to look for signs of inflammatory debris inside the eye. The eye exam might be the only diagnostic test needed if it reveals an eye problem that’s causing the uveitis.
 
If the animal doesn’t have an obvious eye abnormality causing the inflammation, the next step is to conduct diagnostic tests to find the cause. The animal will most likely have baseline blood tests, tests for various infectious organisms (especially viruses and the many organisms carried by fleas and ticks), and possibly x-ray imaging or ultrasound. The patient might need to be referred to a veterinary ophthalmologist.
 
Treatment
Uveitis is treated with medication to reduce inflammation. This medication is usually in the form of eye drops or eye ointment. Some animals need oral medication in addition to eye medication. The purpose of this anti-inflammatory medication is to relieve pain and reduce the risk of glaucoma. Whatever caused the uveitis also needs to be treated.
 
The prognosis for uveitis depends on the cause. If uveitis is diagnosed quickly and the underlying cause is treatable, the prognosis is generally good. Some conditions that cause uveitis have a more guarded prognosis.
 
Image source: Wall Boat on Flickr