My friend, who travels often with her husband, kids and dogs, noticed that after a trip her dogs often would get bladder infections.

She talked about it with her vet and after a long discussion, they realized that the source of their problem was most likely the ice from various motel’s ice machines.

Ice machines that are used at motels freeze the ice but do not maintain it frozen. They recirculate the water as the ice melts and are notorious for harboring bacteria such as e.coli. They should be cleaned very well and very often. Perhaps the staff at many motels do not do this.

The vet suggested using bottled water, with, needless to say, no ice. The vet went on to say that he himself doesn’t even drink water with ice at restaurants, since they use the same type of ice machines.

So, if you dogs or even your kids have gotten sick after traveling and staying at motels, take heed of this ice machine information.