Pet Poisons and Poison Control
The following information is provided with the kind permission of PACC911. Please visit the website pacc911.org for more information.
Poison Control Hotlines
It's always a good idea to post close at hand your veterinarian's number, the number of an emergency clinic, and the number for the Poison Control Center. Before you call, note the time your pet was exposed to the toxin, the type of product ingested, the manufacturer's name and any ingredients you can find listed on packaging.
ASPCA Ani-Med 1.888.721.9100
ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center 1.888.426.4435
Plants and Foods Toxic to Pets
Here is a quick reference guide to the more common house and garden plants and foods (and other substances) that are toxic to most all animals. If you have these plants or foods, you need not dispose of them--just keep them away from your pets. Although it is impossible to list all possible poisons, these guidelines may help you begin to remove or place out of reach most potential problems. This list is NOT ALL INCLUSIVE and may not include items poisonous to Hamsters/Guinea Pigs/Iguanas/etc
* Indicates that a substance is especially dangerous and can be fatal.
Foods which are toxic and poisonous to pets: Alcohol (all alcoholic beverages, ethanol, methanol, isopropyl) Almonds* Apples seeds Apricots* Avocado* Broccoli (in large amounts) Cherry pits Chocolate (all types)* Coffee grounds, beans & tea (caffeine) Figs Garlic* Grapes Hops (used in home brewing) Macadamia Nuts Milk Mouldy/spoiled foods Mushrooms Nutmeg Onions* Peaches* Pear seeds Plum seed/pit Potato (leaves & stem, peelings, and unripe green potatoes) Raisins Rhubarb leaves* Sugar Free items with Xylitol (see below)*** Tomatoes (leaves & stem, and green tomatoes) Walnut hulls Yeast dough
Plants which are toxic and/or poisonous to pets: Almonds* Amaryllis bulb* Andromeda Anthuriaum* Apple seeds (contain cyanide) Apricot* Arrowgrass Autumn crocus (Colchicum Autumnale)* Avocado (leaves, seeds, stem, skin)* (fatal to birds) Azalea (entire rhododendron family) Begonia* Bird of Paradise Bittersweet Bleeding heart* Boxwood Bracken fern Buckeye Buttercup (Ranunculus) Caffeine Caladium* Calla lily* Castor bean or castor oil plant* (can be fatal if chewed) Cherry pits (contain cyanide) Cherry Chinese sacred or heavenly bamboo* Chocolate Choke cherry, unripe berries* Chrysanthemum (a natural source of pyrethrins) Clematis Crocus bulb Croton (Codiaeum sp.) Crown of Thorns Daffodil Daphne Delphinium, larkspur, monkshood* Dieffenbachia Dumb cane (Dieffenbachia)* Elderberry, unripe berries* Elephant Ear English ivy (All Hedera species of ivy) Fig (Ficus) Four-o'clocks (Mirabilis) Foxglove (Digitalis)* Garlic* Grapes/raisins Hemlock Hemp Hyacinth bulbs Hydrangea* Holly berries Iris corms Jack-in-the-pulpit* Jasmine Jerusalem Cherry, Winter Cherry (Solanum pseudocarpum) Jimsonweed* (Datur stramonium, D. metaloides, D. arborea) Kalanchoe* Lantana* Larkspur Laurel Lily (bulbs of most species) Lily (Easter Lily, Tiger Lily) Lily-of-the-Valley* Locoweed Lupine species Marigold Marijuana or hemp (Cannabis) Milkweed* Mistletoe berries* Monkshood Morning Glory* Mostera, aka Split-Leaf Philodendron or Swiss Cheese Plant Mountain laurel Mushrooms & Toadstools (various) Narcissus, daffodil Nettles Nightshade (various species) Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) Oak* (remove bark for use as a bird perch) Oleander* Onions* Peaches* Pear seeds Pencil cactus/plant* (Euphorbia sp.) Periwinkle (Vinca rosea) Peyote (Lophophora williamsii) Philodendron (all species)* Plum pit/seed Poinsettia (many hybrids, avoid them all) Poison Ivy Potato (leaves & stem, peelings, unripe green potatoes) Precatory Beans (Crabs Eye, Rosary Pea, Jequirity Bean) Used in jewelry. Extremely toxic when seedcoat is broken, as it is when the seeds are strung Privet Rhodedendron Rhubarb leaves* Rosary Pea (Arbus sp.) (can be fatal if chewed) Scheffelera (umbrella plant)* Shamrock (Oxalis sp.)* Skunk Cabbage Snow-on-the-Mountain Spurge (Euphorbia sp.) Tobacco Tomatoes (leaves & stem, green tomatoes) Tulip Walnut hulls Water Arum Wisteria Yew*
Other substances that are very harmful include (but are not limited to): Acetaminophen Acetone Antifreeze Aspirin Bleach Boric Acid Brake Fluid Carbon Monoxide Carbuerator Fluid Cigarettes and other nicotine products and smoke Cleaning Fluids Cosmetics Crayons (dangerous for birds) Deoderant Deodorizers Detergents Diet Pills Disinfectants Drain Cleaners Dyes Fungicides Furniture Polish Gasoline Hair Coloring Herbicides Insecticides Kerosine Laundry supplies & fabric softener Laxatives Lead Liquor Lye Matches Mercury Metal Polish Mineral Spirits Mothballs Nail Polish & Nail Polish Remover Paint Paint Remover Permananet Solution Phenol Photo Developer Rodent poison Rubbing Alcohol Rust (dangerous for birds) Shoe Polish Sleeping Pills Slug/Snail Bait Soap Sugar Free foods (see below)*** Suntan Lotion Tar Turpentine Window Cleaners Wood preservatives and shellac Fumes dangerous to birds: smoke-filled air, insecticide spray, deodorizers, spray cleaners, fumes from fresh paint, gas, and overheated Teflon (very deadly).
Toxins Explained
Chocolate/Caffeine: Chocolate contains theobromine, a compound that is a cardiac stimulant and a diuretic. After their pet has eaten a large quantity of chocolate, many pet owners assume their pet is unaffected. However, the signs of sickness may not be seen for several hours, with death following within twenty-four hours. Symptoms include Staggering, labored breathing, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, tremors, fever, heart rate increase, arrhythmia, seizures, coma, death. Cocoa powder and cooking chocolate are the most toxic forms. A 10-kilogram dog can be seriously affected if it eats a quarter of a 250gm packet of cocoa powder or half of a 250gm block of cooking chocolate. These forms of chocolate contain ten times more theobromine than milk chocolate. Thus, a chocolate mud cake could be a real health risk for a small dog. Even licking a substantial part of the chocolate icing from a cake can make a dog unwell. Semi-sweet chocolate and dark chocolate are the next most dangerous forms, with milk chocolate being the least dangerous. A dog needs to eat more than a 250gm block of milk chocolate to be affected. Obviously, the smaller the dog, the less it needs to eat.
Onions/Garlic: Onions and garlic contain the toxic ingredient thiosulphate. Onions are more of a danger. Pets affected by onion toxicity will develop haemolytic anaemia, where the pet’s red blood cells burst while circulating in its body. Symptoms include Hemolytic Anemia, labored breathing, liver damage, vomiting, diarrhea, discolored urine. The poisoning occurs a few days after the pet has eaten the onion. All forms of onion can be a problem including dehydrated onions, raw onions, cooked onions and table scraps containing cooked onions and/or garlic. Left over pizza, Chinese dishes and commercial baby food containing onion, sometimes fed as a supplement to young pets, can cause illness. While garlic also contains the toxic ingredient thiosulphate, it seems that garlic is less toxic and large amounts would need to be eaten to cause illness.
Grapes/Raisins: As few as a handful of raisins or grapes can make a dog/cat ill; however, of the 10 cases reported to the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC), each dog ingested between 9 ounces and 2 pounds of grapes or raisins. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and lethargy.
Macadamia Nuts: Macadamia nuts are another concern, along with most other kinds of nuts. Their high phosphorus content is said to possibly lead to bladder stones. Dogs develop a tremor of the skeletal muscles, and weakness or paralysis of the hindquarters. Affected dogs are often unable to rise and are distressed, usually panting. Some affected dogs have swollen limbs and show pain when the limbs are manipulated.
Bones from fish, poultry, or other meat sources: Can cause obstruction or laceration of the digestive system. Cooked bones splinter EVEN MORE.
Milk and other dairy products: Some adult dogs and cats do not have sufficient amounts of the enzyme lactase, which breaks down the lactose in milk. This can result in diarrhea. Lactose-free milk products are available for pets.
Raw Eggs: Contain an enzyme called avidin, which decreases the absorption of biotin (a B vitamin). This can lead to skin and hair coat problems. Raw eggs may also contain Salmonella.
***Sugar Free foods with Xylitol: Veterinarians warn that a commonly used sweetener might cause liver failure in dogs, and perhaps even kill them. Researchers said for dogs, ingesting even a small amount of xylitol, found in many sugar-free foods, can trigger significant insulin release, which drops their blood sugar and can be fatal. Their report in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association appears to strengthen the suspected link between the sugar substitute xylitol, thought to make dogs sick, and possible liver failure. Xylitol, a naturally occurring product, is found in many sugar-free chewing gums, candies, baked goods and toothpastes. Researchers Sharon Gwaltney-Brant and Eric Dunayer with staff at a poison unit of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Urbana, Illinois, gathered information on eight dogs treated between 2003 and 2005 after eating products containing xylitol. Each dog became ill, and five died or had to be put down because of liver failure, possibly from ingesting xylitol. One dog who had to be euthanized had eaten four large, chocolate-frosted muffins containing about 1 pound of xylitol. "People don't think sugar-free gum can kill their dog. I didn't before I got into this. But this is something people should be aware of," Gwaltney-Brant, who co-authored the study with Dunayer, said in a statement. Gwaltney-Brant said for dogs, ingesting even a small amount of xylitol can trigger significant insulin release, which drops their blood sugar and can be fatal. "A 22-pound dog who consumes one gram of xylitol should be treated," she said, adding that further studies were needed to definitely establish a cause-and-effect relationship.
NOTE: Pets owners should not assume that human food is always safe for pets. When it comes to chocolate, onions, garlic, raisins/grapes and macadamia nuts, such foods should not be given at all. Be sure that your pets can’t get into your stash of chocolates, that food scraps are disposed of carefully to prevent onion and garlic toxicity and that your dog is prevented from picking up macadamia nuts if you have a tree in your garden.