This time of year, rock salt is on every street and sidewalk, but it can be dangerous to your pets. Today, more about the danger of rock salt and snow melts in this edition of Pet Pointers.

When the snow comes down, you can bet ice will follow and every sidewalk, road and parking lot will be sprinkled with varies substances to melt the ice and prevent people and cars from slipping and sliding. While ice melts and rock salt help us all deal with slippery conditions a little better, they can be detrimental to the health of our pets, DVM Elise Craft tells us more about how these products can affect our pets.

Dr. Craft said, "Not only can it be harmful if they ingest it, but it can also actually irritate their paws or their sort of ventrum. Just from it being on them can cause chemical burns or things like that. Certainly vomiting, diarrhea or even sever electrolyte changes if they ingest it. So it is important if you take your dog for a walk in the winter, make sure that you wash off their paws and wash off their belly."

Lots of ice melt products say “pet safe,” however manufacturers still urge caution around pets and kids. While some of these products are not caustic to the skin, they can be harmful if consumed by licking paws or chewing on your shoes after you come in from a walk.