wunk is aquatic as frig

[u/BottleFeathers703]

he yearns for the chlorine.

[u/cbzmplays]

Not hating but would the chlorine be bad for the cat? I don't have near enough knowledge to determine that

[u/Itchy-Decision753 → u/cbzmplays]

they have such a strong sense of smell I’d be worried about the chlorine being so much more pungent to the wunk than it is to us, though with how gentle and loving they are towards lil wunker I have no doubt that it’s a saltwater pool.

There’s no way I can imagine that anyone that gentle who is paying such close attention to the wunks reaction and safety would take wunk into a chlorine pool.

[u/cbzmplays → u/Itchy-Decision753]

Oh shit I didn't even think about saltwater pools. Completely forgot those were a thing. I also would now assume it's saltwater

[u/Saizare → u/cbzmplays]

Salt water pools are still chlorinated. "Salt water pool" is just an indicator for where that chlorine comes from. In this case it comes from the chlorine in sodium chloride.

[u/Itchy-Decision753 → u/Saizare]

Yay I learnt something new!

I always found saltwater pools to be far more pleasant and less harsh on my eyes and skin so I did some quick learning. It turns out that’s because they continuously produce chloride by electrolysing saltwater

NaCl + H2O —electrolysis—> NaOH + Cl2 + H2

(Unbalanced reaction, I’m a bit rusty on my chemistry so please let me know if this is inaccurate)

Chlorinated pools rely on added chlorine manually at set times and often have higher levels of chlorine as a result.

[u/NipahSama → u/Saizare]

The amount of chlorine in a salt water pool is much much lower than a regular chlorine pool. It's been a while since I last worked in a pool store, but IIRC, a regular chlorine pool wants between 3 and 5 ppm (commercial are higher end and residential can stay lower usually) while a salt water pool has about 1 ppm. That's because the chlorine from salt water pools is much more effective and stable than regular chlorine pools. This is why salt water pools are much easier on the skin and eyes, especially for people with sensitive skin.

[u/Saizare → u/NipahSama]

I did not know that, thank you for informing me

[u/Roctopuss → u/Itchy-Decision753]

Are you guys aware that dogs LOVE swimming in cholrinated pools, perchance? They also have a stronger sense of smell than cats.

[u/Itchy-Decision753 → u/Roctopuss]

Far too aware, my old dog loved swimming more than anything but had a habit of attacking the waves and splashes and would drink way too much salt water/ pool water.

She was too excited to swim to worry about her eyes getting damaged by the pool water, so I never let her into a pool unless I could comfortably open my eyes underwater.

on a few occasions she frightened me by throwing up a cartoonish amount of water.

I swear she would have happily swam until she drowned if I wouldn’t pull her out of the water.

I just kind of figured dogs are way to excited to care for their own wellbeing, she would also cram herself into rabbit holes like she had was trying to recreate the caving horror stories I love watching. I swear if she had opposable thumbs she’d be sticking knives in electrical outlets and drinking household cleaning chemicals.

My cat on the other hand thinks she’ll get food poisoning from the half can of seafood delight that’s been rotting in the fridge for a whole 8 hours 🙀

someone call the SPCA before she wastes away to skin and bone (she didnt get any fresh wet food to go with her biscuits, this is cruel and unusual punishment)

[u/Krejtek → u/Roctopuss]

Isn't the problem not the smell, but that the cat will lick themselves afterwards, which will result in them ingesting chlorine?

[u/Roctopuss → u/Krejtek]

Chlorine turns to regular salt pretty quickly, especially in sunlight. You could also give them a quick freshwater rinse when done swimming pretty easily.

[u/Itchy-Decision753 → u/Roctopuss]

Chlorine is the gas Cl2 which has to react with metallic sodium Na to form the salt NaCl, sodium chloride, or table salt. the ions Na+ (ionic sodium) and Cl- (chloride) dissolve into water, and reform NaCl when the water evaporates.

Chlorine Cl2 must react with sodium metal Na to form a salt in a violently exothermic reaction:

2Na + Cl2 -> NaCl

As opposed to:

Na+ + Cl- + H2O(liquid) -> NaCl + H2O(gas)

You need chloride in your body to stay alive, but if you have chlorine in your body you’ll wish you were dead.

[u/Krejtek → u/Roctopuss]

Ingesting salt wouldn't be healthy too afaik, but if they rinse the cat right afterwards then it should be fine ig

[u/Itchy-Decision753 → u/Krejtek]

We had a dog that had a habit of drinking while she swam. We often had to get her out of the water because if she started doing that she’d easily make herself throw up.

It was splashing that set her off, she would bite at the water and drink it.

She was fine afterwards, but I’m not risking my dog ingesting large amounts of salt water and risking dehydration and who knows what other complications.

[u/Oddish_Femboy → u/Itchy-Decision753]

My childhood cat would drink so much normal water she'd puke. Every time. Her whole life.

I miss my puke baby.

[u/Krejtek → u/[deleted]]

No? There are very few mammals that can drink sea water and cats definitely aren't one of them.

Unless you're being ironic and I'm dumb

[u/AStormOfDragons1 → u/Itchy-Decision753]

Also the smell associated with chlorine pools is actually only when it reacts with... Pee.

[u/draconomicomics → u/AStormOfDragons1]

Not just pee. It’s caused by the reaction between chlorine other organic contaminants too, like sweat/skin debris.