Ice-Melt for use on icy sidewalks/walkways

[Wayne02]

I picked up a couple of bags of Ice-melt pellets for use on our icy gravel and concrete walkways. This is the first time I've used this kind of product and was surprised how well it worked, 45 minutes and the ice was gone.

Then I decide to read the bag and find that it says to keep out of the reach of children, dogs, and cats. Children are not present here but we do have a dog and cat.

Now I'm worried about using this stuff for fear of the dog or cat ingesting some of it off the walkway. Anybody else use this stuff? Are you concerned about the animals eating some of it?

Thanks

[Joshie]

They have to put all sorts of warnings on these types of things. I'd not worry about animals unless they're eating the stuff out of the bag or licking the sidewalk. The real problem with this stuff, and why my hubby won't use it, is that it is very hard on concrete. It can pockmark it. We use sand.

[Deb862]

We use the regular Ice Melt stuff on our driveway where the cats/dog really don't go and then on our walkways,porch, etc., we buy the stuff that is specifically safe for pets. Here, it's a light green pellet as opposed to the white pellets.

[nc_mtn]

Watch out using it on Gravel. I used some salt/ice melt stuff once and it made the biggest muddiest mess in the driveway until I could get some big rocks in there and pack it down good, then had to add some more gravel on top... I'm swearing it's the melt stuff

[DAVID In Wisconsin]

Most ice melts just like plain old salt can cause irritation to the pads of some animals paws.

[TheMartianChick]

As David said... It can cause their paws to be extra sensitive. If you happen to buy bags of fertilizer, you can use that in place of ice melt. It works well. We buy it for areas where we don't want salt to destroy plantings, not because we have any critters with paws.

[Molly Mckee]

If you are worried about it make sure the dog or cat doesn't hang around the area you put the ice melt on and wash off their paws when they come in.

[BigJ]

We use the same salt people use in their water softeners. It works great and is cheaper than Ice melt. I would guess it is probably safe but can't confirm that.

[Old Vet]

When I was a maintenance supervisor for the Forestry Commission I used fertilizer and it works well.

[7thswan]

I cryed when I saw what it had done to my dogs paws. Have never used it again.

[tiogacounty]

Originally Posted by nc_mtn

Watch out using it on Gravel. I used some salt/ice melt stuff once and it made the biggest muddiest mess in the driveway until I could get some big rocks in there and pack it down good, then had to add some more gravel on top... I'm swearing it's the melt stuff

No need to guess about this. In places like the Dalton highway, (better known as the road from Ice Road Truckers), along the Alaskan pipeline, it is used specifically to attract water. During the summer they soak the road with water trucks to loosen it up, regrade it with a road grader and then use truck mounted salt spreaders to broadcast calcium flake (ice melt) onto the surface. This keep the moisture up at the top layer and controls dangerous levels of dust from truck traffic. It also is insanely corrosive and, at times, too slick to stand on. After the flake gets ground into the road by truck traffic, the surface stays wet looking, smooth and slippery for a surprising long time.

[Beeman]

They sell pet safe ice melt.

[Our Little Farm]

You can also use cold wood ash and coal ash on driveways etc to stay safe, but you would not want to track that back indoors.

[Wayne02]

Ok, thanks for the replies. When I used this stuff the first (and only) time I was shocked at how fast it melted the ice, which prompted me to read the bag and see what all it was comprised of. After I read that it should not be used around animals and such I scrapped what little I had spread up off the ground (not easy to do on a gravel walkway).

I'm going to give these two bags away or throw them away and try and find some pet safe ice melt. I wonder if the pet safe ice melt has the same affect on the gravel surface and substrate as mentioned in this thread?

I do have some sand I could use but I don't like how the sand affects the gravel surface after the fact either. Even though when I tried it, I used it sparingly, I find over time it tends to cause the gravel base to wash away and I end up with pockets of puddles here and there. It's like the sand ends up plugging the gravel base and affects the base's ability to drain off the rain water. (which we get a lot of around here). I know that sounds counter intuitive because sand is used for drainage, but that has been my experience with using it on top of gravel surfaces.

[Molly Mckee]

You can use course ground corn meal in a pinch, but granular fertilizer works well, won't hurt plants, and dissolves well. I haven't seen any damage to the dogs or cats feet--we do use not more than necessary.

[TRAILRIDER]

Originally Posted by 7thswan

I cryed when I saw what it had done to my dogs paws. Have never used it again.

7thSwan, what did it do? (And BTW thanks for the bread recipe it is wonderful!)

[TRAILRIDER]

I don't use any ice melt (although I do need it) because even the pet safe stuff I worry about with loose poultry. They'll eat anything!

[arabian knight]

Now this won't melt ice. But I use just plan Ag Lime. The same thing a farmer uses in the barn to absorb the moisture etc. It 'adheres" to the ice and really does a great job And lime sure won't hurt anything, but even could help lawns etc.
I use all the time in winter for those slippery paths to feed my critters, so I won't slip on my "backside" And goes a long ways too.

[Shrek]

The only things I was ever advised to use to combat ice on our walks and driveways was a scoop shovel to clear the snow and sand or wild bird seed to provide footing on glazed ice as my parents didn't want to put animals at risk or negatively affect the soil composition adjoining the walks and drive.

[7thswan]

Originally Posted by TRAILRIDER

7thSwan, what did it do? (And BTW thanks for the bread recipe it is wonderful!)

I saw him licking his paws, looked. He had cracks on his pads, they were so deep you could see the meat down in. I don't know if the pain was the cause, but he would never let me touch his feet again, had to muzzle him to trim his nails. I had a leather sofa and ottoman, someone set a pair of gloves soaked with calcium chloride, it shrunk up that leather into a brittle ball right where they sat. I'm glad you like the Bread!