Plumbing Tips for Pet Owners
Our pets bring us real happiness and stress relief. In fact, a recent Houzz survey found that most people treat cats and dogs as members of the family. That means these furry friends inevitably find their way into our bathrooms. And that can lead to costly repairs. We’ve seen plenty of pet-related damage ourselves. Here are our tips to help you avoid the most common plumbing problems pets create.
Pet Ownership and Plumbing
Read these tips for guidance on how to keep your pets safe and extend the life of your home plumbing system.
Pipes Dug Up by Pets
Most dogs love finding out what’s buried in their own yard. It’s a cute quirk, but not every hole is harmless. In much of Texas, water service lines only need to sit as shallow as 12 inches deep. Sewer lines typically run just 2 to 4 feet down. That’s shallower than in colder states, where pipes have to sit below the frost line. Older homes and yards with aging pipe runs can be shallower still. Front yards are usually where the water and sewer lines run. That’s exactly where a determined digger has the best shot at hitting one.
If your dog punctures a pipe or causes it to break, the damage can range widely. You could be looking at anything from a malfunctioning sprinkler line to a burst sewer line in your yard.
The simplest fix is limiting access. Small fences or garden barriers around known dig zones keep pets away from those shallow-line areas. Prevention is the first and most important step. Training your dog not to dig helps too, even if it takes patience. It’s worth it – nobody wants a sewage line breach in their front yard.
Using Toilet as a Water Bowl
Pets don’t seem to notice the difference between their water bowl and the toilet bowl. The American Kennel Club states that this could be because of the cool water that is constantly refilling. Try to keep pets out of the bathroom unattended so they do not ingest leftover cleaning chemicals or fecal matter. Your pet may be upset about it. But keeping the toilet lid closed, or using a baby gate in the doorway, usually solves the problem.
Chewing on Pipes
Pets usually can’t get to your home’s main pipes – those run inside walls, under slabs, or below ground. A few spots are the exception. These sit exposed, within easy reach of a curious dog or cat:
- Flexible supply lines under sinks
- The ice-maker line behind the fridge
- Hose bibs
- Sprinkler valve boxes in the yard
These lines are typically softer plastic or rubber than your main plumbing, so normal chewing damages them more easily. A punctured supply line can mean a slow leak under a cabinet, or a soggy patch in the yard. Often, nobody notices right away.
If your pet has access to any exposed lines, covering or concealing them is worth the effort. A cabinet baby-gate, a valve box cover, or simply routing lines out of reach all help. Any of these can keep a chewed line from turning into a repair call.
High Pressure of Hot Water Concerns
Before you get the tub or hose ready, check that the water is right for bathing your pet. If the pressure is too high, it can hurt if it comes in contact with their skin. If it’s too hot, it could burn them.
Both of these scenarios are completely avoidable by checking the water prior to bathing. Test the water before you use it on your pet — is it too high-pressure or too hot? Avoid the bath if this occurs until you can change the temperature or reduce the pressure.
To change your water’s temperature, find your water heater’s temperature gauge. If it feels too hot, you can turn it down from the temperature gauge. Energy Saver recommends setting most water heaters to 120ºF. So, if your water heater feels scalding hot at that setting, it’s fine to turn it down. Having trouble turning down the temperature or dealing with high pressure? Give us a call and we can help.
A pressure-reducing valve, or PRV, can lower your water pressure. Lower pressure might sound like a downside, but high water pressure is actually tougher on your plumbing system over time.
Bath Time
Where you wash your pet matters almost as much as how often. Indoor tub and shower drains can’t handle a full coat of shed fur at once. Pet hair is one of the most common causes of a slow or clogged bathroom drain.
The fix is simple: use a hair catcher (also called a drain guard or drain strainer) over the drain before you start. It sits right over the opening and stops hair before it can get past the trap. These cost just a few dollars, and you can find them almost anywhere – pet stores, hardware stores, even most grocery stores.
If you wash your dog outside instead, hose them down over grass or gravel. Avoid washing near a yard drain or driveway drain. Those can clog with hair and mud just as easily as an indoor drain.
Either way, a hair catcher is the cheapest insurance you can buy against a clogged drain down the line.
Are pet plumbing problems persistent in your home? Contact Reliant Plumbing! We’ve seen everything from the largest pet hair drain clogs to everyday pet plumbing occurrences. That’s because we have pets of our own! While you wait on a water heater repair or toilet replacement, check out these real stories. They feature our team and their pets.
Just like our expert plumbers, we genuinely believe in treating clients like a part of the Reliant Plumbing family. Whether it’s a home emergency or maintenance for your business, you can rely on Reliant Plumbing. With over 10 years in the plumbing business, you can trust us to provide a reliable repair at a price that works with you.