Pam, my girlfriend went to work at the veternarians on Saturday. I did my usual routine of letting the dogs off the boat to play in the park next door, and then I put them back on the boat and proceeded to do boat chores. I walked upstairs to the main saloon and both dogs were on the couch. Ruby was laying down and Chevy (we didn't name him) was licking her face.

"Chevy! Stop that", but he kept it up.

I went over and Ruby's face was swelled up so badly that one eye was shut. She was covered in hives. I loaded both dogs into the truck and took them to the vet. I left Ruby there, and took Chevy to the dog park for an hour and a half. On the ride back to pick up Ruby, he started vomiting in the truck. Car sick? Chevy never got car sick before.

The vet had given Ruby some shots and benedryl and said it looked like an allergic reaction to something like an insect bite. Back at the boat, Pam and I looked everywhere for spiders or any other bugs on the boat and couldn't find any.

The next morning, Ruby looked much better so I let them back off the boat to play in the park. A short time later, back on the boat, Ruby puffed up again and broke out in hives again. What could it be? No bugs. Their diets hadn't changed. Nothing came to mind. Later, I noticed a jug of ice melt that I used on the steps to the boat, on the dock, and on the ramp. It's labled pet safe. I looked at the back of the jug and read the warning label.

"Wear rubber glovers when handling and wash hand thoroughly afterwards. Wash contaminated clothing before reuse. Harmful if swallowed. Eye contact may cause injury. Immediately flush with water for fifteen minutes. Seek medical attention. In case of skin contact, flush with plenty of water. If swallowed, call your physician immediately. Keep out of reach of children. Not for food or drug use."

If it's bad for people, what about dogs, cats, and other animals? After all, they walk directly on the stuff. Back on the boat, they often lick their paws and each other.

The ice melt is made with magnesium chloride, which is poisonous to people, apparently. A quick google search and I found many stories of pets reacting to this "pet safe" deicer. I stopped using the ice melt and the dogs stopped vomiting and getting hives. I sent an email to the company that makes the deicer but haven't heard anything from them. Thankfully, both dogs are fine now.