Febreze

[Mrs. Byrd]

is it possible for febreze to kill a squirrel?

i know it can kill birds and dogs. wouldn't that mean it can kill a squirrel too?

[Ardilla]

The Febreze pet danger emails are a hoax.

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/febreze.asp

Squirrels and other animals have a stronger sense of smell than humans, so I wouldn't put any Febreze on any pet items, but you shouldn't be worried about general toxicity.

That said, I have fragrance allergies, and Febreze really bothers me (tingling/burning sinus passages & skin and migraines). We don't use it in my house.

[Mrs. Byrd]

well i know febreze killed my mommas birds, and Roscoe started getting sick right around the time my sister-in-law started spraying it..

everytime we took him out of the house he would start acting all better and perking up but when he'd come back home he'd start acting sick again.


OH, and both my uncles dog's start acting sick anytime they're around febreze too.

[Pointy Tale]

Febreze kills? Seriously? Never heard that before.

[Ardilla]

No, it doesn't.

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/febreze.asp

[Mrs. Byrd]

well, it might not of killed THEIR animals. but it did kill my mommas birds and i'm pretty sure that's what killed Roscoe.

[Ardilla]

Did you read the link? There have been several studies, including by the ASPCA. It is considered safe (under normal use) for most household pets (birds excluded).

Could some animals have died from Febreze? Of course. Allergies are always a possibility. And even a sensitivity will produce inflammed sinus passages, etc., and could likely exacerbate any underlying conditions. But declaring a general warning against it is like saying peanuts kill people when they only kill if the person is allergic (I happen to have a friend whose son is severely allergic to peanuts).

And mind you, I hate Febreze, so I'm certainly not defending them out of consumer loyalty, or anything.

Most people on TSB recommend care with fragrance products, especially laundry products, because squirrels tend to be very sensitive to smells and don't like perfumey products. For that reason, not general toxicity, I would avoid Febreze.

[wiggles]

Hi this is Wiggles sq mom - I read with interest the Febreze postings and thought I would tell you my experience I was looking after our daughters baby Jack Russell pups and she called home to say "oh don't use Febreze it could damage their little lungs" well, I had already sprayed it in the house and then prayed the rest of the day that her pups wouldn't die now I look back and lol and it didn't hurt them but I would still be careful with any sprays - I don't even put softener on little Wiggles towels - he's just way too cute to take any chances on - thanks for letting me share in this discussion. Beaulah

[atlantasquirrelgirl]

The only way to know with certainty what killed Roscoe would be a necropsy, and unless you froze the body, then that's not possible now. Others may have differing opinions, but I do find something very odd about Roscoe's death.

According to your posts, he was 6 weeks of age in early October, which means he would be around 9-10 weeks now. Aspirational pnemonia is usually something seen in very, very young squirrels. Even if an older squirrel aspirates, they can typically clear their passages without it turning into pnemonia. His illness seemed so sudden and turned downhill exceptionally quickly, like what is seen in babies less than 5 weeks old. It doesn't bring him back, but just strikes me as strange. Additionally, he was probably already weened at this age too, right?

[CritterMom]

I'm with you, Mrs. Bird. The ASPCA may have tested...on dogs and cats, not exotics, and let's face it, squirrels are pretty much off the radar screen. That he showed symptoms that cleared when he got away from it is highly suspicious. I wouldn't have that crap in my house.

I don't get the facination with this stuff. Scented candles, plug ins, stick ups, sprays, gels... When I want my house to smell fresh I CLEAN it, and when I just absolutely have to have some scent, throwing a cinnamon stick in a pot of water and setting it to boil does a lovely job.

Nonstick cookware is another one - I got rid of all of my nonstick a decade ago and went to all stainless. When heated too high - and nobody seems completely sure how high too high is - it releases gasses that will kill a bird immediately and make a human sick with flu-like symptoms. If it can sicken a 175 pound man, what could it do to a little animal that weighs a couple pounds?

I believe that many of our modern conveniences sicken and damage us.

So get rid of the non stick - your upper arms will look better with a little pot scrubbing. Dump the scented candles - in fact dump ALL candles that aren't beeswax - why would you burn a petroleum based product with artificial scents dumped in it in your home? Get rid of the sprays and air fresheners. Our air is mucked up enough without adding a bunch of stuff to it. And try the cinnamon stick thing (you will crave apple pie, unfortunately).

I'm so sorry about little Roscoe. He broke a whole bunch of hearts yesterday.

[Mrs. Byrd]

sorry i didn't mean to sound all defensive ardilla. wasn't my intentions at all.

it just makes me mad that i found out my sister-in-law had been spraying febreze even though we all told her not to because it has killed my mommas canary and could hurt Roscoe. She's so inconsiderate, she didn't care at all if it hurt anyone or anything. My baby's dead all because SHE didn't feel like cleaning all the nasty moldy food out her room so instead sprayed exactly what we told her not to, not to mention it was a HUGE bottle of it. She went through the biggest thing of Febreze i've ever seen completely in less than three days..

I mean she's 25 years old, a good 7 years older than me! And Roscoe had to pay just because she wanted to act like an immature and not to mention lazy.. i'll keep it clean.. "person".

I swear.. I wish there was some law out there that said it was okay to kill stupid people.

[Mrs. Byrd]

We estimated his birthday to be around August 18th-August 21st he was 5 weeks old when we found him. And he wasn't completely weened. He had formula sometimes in the mornings and always at night, but during the day we gave him HHB and veggies. He got two nuts a day. He loved Cabbage, cabbage was his favorite. And pansys, his favorite part of flowers were the greens.


The only way to know with certainty what killed Roscoe would be a necropsy, and unless you froze the body, then that's not possible now. Others may have differing opinions, but I do find something very odd about Roscoe's death.

According to your posts, he was 6 weeks of age in early October, which means he would be around 9-10 weeks now. Aspirational pnemonia is usually something seen in very, very young squirrels. Even if an older squirrel aspirates, they can typically clear their passages without it turning into pnemonia. His illness seemed so sudden and turned downhill exceptionally quickly, like what is seen in babies less than 5 weeks old. It doesn't bring him back, but just strikes me as strange. Additionally, he was probably already weened at this age too, right?

[squirrelsrule&bunniestoo]

I always worry spraying anything around my wild little tykes. I don't use any air freshener, sprays, or toxic cleaners on their cages or in the room. The only thing I use to clean is dish detergent on their dishes (I don't even use that on their syringes, I use boiling water to clean that) and simple green on any surfaces they come in contact with and their cages, etc. I worry about baby bunnies mostly, they are so sensitive. With any wild animal, though, the smells will be totally unnatural to them and with them chewing on everything and licking everything, it can be dangerous. I am probably way overprotective, but that's just the way I am.

[crazysquirrels]

Sorry to hear this. I would be chewing somebody up and spitting them out. My wife uses Fab. but in small amounts and never near Jackie. However a whole bottle in 3 days is a ton.