A Guide to Pet Safety During Home Renovations and Remodeling

From tearing up walls to hiring professional painters to taking carpets off and removing nails, there are likely to be many things happening in your home when you're renovating. The last aspect you'll have to think about is your pet's location. Little, mischievous, or agitated pets can be prone to barking, getting into things they shouldn't be, or even running out the door. Renovations to your home are stressful for both you as well as your pet.

Here are a few of the potential dangers for pets which you must be alert to while doing the process of renovating your home:

Heavy Items

Contractors may be moving furniture, cinder block, glass, wood, and other heavy objects in the course of a renovation. Animals who are excited and heavy objects are a dangerous combination. It is important to ensure that your pet is secured when you are renovating in order to protect them from dangers.

Poisonous and Hazardous Materials

Cleaning materials, adhesives, paints, and nails, for example, are just a few of the items which could be hazardous to the pet's health when undergoing an upgrade. These products could be extremely poisonous or cause the risk of choking. Additionally, pets' natural curiosity isn't compatible when they're exposed to poisonous dangers. Cats and dogs could, for example, be enticed to lick fresh paint off walls or wander through work areas and discover hair on themselves while grooming.

Here's a list that includes poisonous and dangerous materials that are often discovered in home remodeling:

• Paints: Whether or not paint can harm your pet is contingent on its kind. Paint with lead is widely known to be extremely dangerous, and paints that do not contain lead usually cause minor irritation. For paints with no lead taking in only a small amount of paint is likely to have any harm -- relative to the pet's weight -- aside from mild stomach upset. Ingestions of larger amounts could result in sickness or even vomiting. If you are renovating your home and it involves paint, it's suggested to use environmentally friendly paint and services for painting because they are less harmful to the health of your family than conventional paints.

• Nails or wood chips, as well as small pieces: Any type of small piece that pets might put into their mouths has the potential of becoming a choking risk. The wood chip, nails, and other small objects can appeal to cats, dogs, or even birds. However, they can be detrimental to their wellbeing in a number of ways. If your dog ingests an object that is sharp, take him to the vet as soon as you can. If your dog swallows another foreign object, it might be possible to administer first aid. Wood chips, as well as other objects, could also contain toxic substances in them, which makes it a great idea to select a sustainable home decor after the home's renovation.

• Chemicals: The most poisonous chemicals found in the home improvement work places are adhesives, cleaning materials, and the substances in wood and paint, which are discussed within the bullet point above. The exposure to these chemicals need not be solely due to consumption. Pets also are at risk when they are in the room where these chemicals are present, in particular, if doors or windows are shut.

• Plants: There are many kinds of plants that can be poisonous to pets. It is generally recommended to be aware of which plants can be poisonous to pets. If you have plants within your home, you can be sure they'll be moved and possibly out of range of your pet when you are renovating. The plants that pose a risk of poison, such as paints, can affect animals' digestive tract. They can cause moderate to severe stomach upset as well as vomiting.