• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
TM Hughes & Son

TM Hughes & Son

Plumber & Heating Engineer Based in South Woodham Ferrers covering the whole of Essex

  • Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • Accreditation
    • Testimonials
  • Plumbing
    • Blockages
    • Burst Pipes
    • Emergencies
    • Leak Detection
    • Leak Repair
    • Mains Stopcock
    • Saniflo
    • Shower Services
    • Shower Pumps
    • Taps
    • Toilets
    • Waste Disposal Units
    • Wastes & Overflows
    • Water Tanks
  • Heating
    • Boiler Installation
    • Boiler Servicing & Repairs
    • Boiler Finance
    • Boiler Quote
    • LPG Boilers
    • Central Heating
      • Carbon Monoxide
      • Central Heating Controls
      • Central Heating Pumps
      • Immersion Heaters
      • Radiators & Valves
      • Thermostats
      • Thermal Imaging
      • Water Cylinders
      • Water Heaters
    • Gas Cooker Installation
    • Gas Fire Servicing
    • Gas Safety Inspections
    • Power Flushing
    • Underfloor Heating
  • Other Services
    • Air Conditioning
    • Bathrooms
    • Electrical
    • Handyman
    • Tiling
  • Areas
    • Basildon
    • Benfleet
    • Billericay
    • Braintree
    • Brentwood
    • Canvey Island
    • Chelmsford
    • Colchester
    • Epping
    • Grays
    • Harlow
    • Hockley
    • Loughton
    • Leigh On Sea
    • Maldon
    • Rayleigh
    • Romford
    • Southend
    • South Woodham Ferrers
    • Wickford
    • Witham
  • Blog
  • Jobs
  • Contact
  • Call – 01245 830075

Pet Proof Your Plumbing

how-to-pet-proof-your-plumbing

Many Essex homeowners keep pets the most popular being dogs, second cats

Other popular pets include rabbits birds and guinea pigs; these pets are kept in hutches or cages so won’t apply to most of this article.

If you have a Cat or a Dog however beware.

Your cute and cuddly pet could cause you plumbing problems.

Avoided these issues  by pet-proofing your plumbing.

Fur

First thing to be mindful of if you have a cat or a dog is fur.

Every pet owner knows fur gets everywhere, especially in pet bedding which needs to be washed now and then.

The easiest way to do this is with washing machine. However, when excess hair’s removed from your pet’s bedding during the wash, it may clog your washing machine.

Before you wash your pet’s bedding, remove as much hair as possible before placing in the machine.

If you have a dog, you probably both him/her regularly. Cats hate being bathed, but if yours is the exception take note.

The fur is highly efficient at blocking your bath drain.

Always use a bath strainer, place over the plug hole, and it will catch any excess hair as the bath’s draining preventing any potential blockages.

Ideally, bath your pets outside in a portable bathtub.

Toilets

Cats and Dogs will drink from Toilets, given half the chance (especially if their water bowls empty) and they may ingest some chemicals while they’re at it.

Kittens and small dogs can jump and even drown in toilets.

Dogs can drop items into the toilet bowl, which can cause an immovable blockage that requires attention from a professional plumber.

Always keep the lid of your toilets closed.

Never put cat litter down the toilet even if it’s ‘flushable’ litter

Eventually, your toilet will block so always put cat litter in the bin.

The only thing that should ever go down the toilet is toilet waste.

As a side note keep your toilet chemicals out of reach of pets. Your dog could chew through a bleach bottle and ingest nasty substances.

Drains

Make sure all internal and external drains of your home are covered.

Small pets can fall and get stuck in drains.

Covering your drains is essential even if you don’t have pets in your home.

How guilty will you feel if a neighbour’s cat wandered into your drain and got trapped?

Pipes

Make sure all pipes inside and outside your home are suitably covered or hidden.

Dogs love to chew, and pipes are no exception. Any Dog will love the challenge of getting through a plastic pipe which could turn into an expensive plumbing problem.

Watch your dog if he likes to dig in your garden. He/She might come across a sewer pipe buried in the garden and damage it.

terry-hughes-chelmsford

Hi, I’m Terry, the founder and owner of TM Hughes & Son Gas Services

Please get in touch to book an appointment or receive a free, no-obligation quote

Call – 01245 830075

Email – info@tmhughesandson.uk

 

Copyright © 2025 T.M. Hughes & Son Gas Services Ltd, All Rights Reserved | Company No: 05296815 | Registered in England | VAT: 858 935 366 | Built by Roysearch

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • X
  • Google Maps
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}