If you’ve got pets at home, you need to make sure they’re safe. This may mean keeping them on a leash, feeding them every day, and keeping them out of the garage.

Your garage could be home to dozens of potentially poisonous chemicals that, if ingested, could mean major problems for your pet. Number one on that list? Antifreeze.

Antifreeze causes many deaths each year because by the time the animal is taken to the vet, he’s already consumed so much of the poison that he has irreversible damage. They often don’t show symptoms right of having ingested a poison right away and since we don’t check our antifreeze supply on a daily basis, we’re often unaware of what they’ve done.

After ingestion, the poisonous ingredient in radiator fluid (ethylene glycol) is rapidly metabolized in the liver, often building up and causing irreversible damage to the kidney.

So what can you do to make sure this doesn’t happen to your pet? First, keep these poisonous chemicals out of your pet’s reach. Lock them away in cupboards, since pets like cats often climb surfaces and reach usually hard-to-reach places.

Be on the lookout for signs of ingestion. Within the first hour of ingestion, your pet may display drunk-like signs, including stumbling, vomiting, drinking water, and excessive urination. Six to twelve hours after ingestion can mean brain damage and seizures for your beloved pet. Any longer and your pet could suffer kidney failure and death.

That is why keeping this poison out of reach is crucial. Lock your garage if you have no where safe to place the items or barricade your pet to keep them from venturing there.