It is relatively common for our inquisitive pets to eat something that is poisonous to them.
If you suspect your pet has been poisoned call us immediately and we can give you immediate advise. Often this will be for you to bring your pet to us with the empty packet or a description of what they ate.
There are many things that can poison our pets and some of them you may not realise are poisonous.
Rat poison is probably the most common life threatening poison we will see. The signs of this is bleeding as the blood is unable to clot. There are no immediate signs when your pet ingests the rat poison however if we wait until they show signs of internal bleeding it is very hard to save an affected animal involving days involving intensive care, blood transfusions and much stress. The sooner we see them the sooner we can try and remove the poison and use an antidote.
Snail bait is a dreadful poison that causes seizures and vomiting within a very short time of ingestion. Again the sooner we can see them and attempt to remove the poison the better chance we have of a complete recovery.
The risk of both of these poisonings can be greatly reduced by either using alternative pest control or being very aware of the presence of the poison an keeping the box locked away from your pet.
Chocolate is a delightful treat for us but for dogs it can be deadly causing seizures and heart irregularities as well as vomiting diarrhoea The darker the chocolate is the more poisonous it is generally. If your dog eats chocolate (we almost always see one dog doing this around easter) contact us and if possible find the cocoa content and weight of the dog and we can use this information to detect the potential seriousness of the chocolate poisoning.
There are a number of other foods that we eat daily but in dogs can be dangerous or even lethal.
Onions and garlic only affects our breath but in dogs it can cause serious damage to the red blood cells a few days later. Grapes and raisins are especially dangerous to the kidneys and there is no known safe limit as even 1 or 2 have been known to cause kidney failure. Xylitol is a sweetener that is commonly used however it can cause a severe drop in a dogs sugar levels and even liver failure. Macadamia nuts can cause weakness and pain especially of the back legs of dogs that even though is not fatal is important again to avoid feeding your dog nuts.
Antifreeze in the cars radiator ethylene glycol is very sweet and should be disposed of immediately as if a pet drinks it they are at risk of developing kidney failure.
Human medications should not be given to your pet unless under direct veterinary advise. Cats especially can find it hard to metabolise certain drugs making them more dangerous and combined with their small size compared to a person (about a twentieth of a person) means accidental overdose is very possible.
Again if you are worried that there is any chance your pet has eaten a poison don’t hesitate to contact us immediately. We have phone diversions at night to put you in direct contact with an emergency clinic. Finally be aware that what is fine for us to eat doesn’t necessarily mean it is fine for our beloved pets to eat.