The Blue Mountain Canine Guide to Pet Poison Prevention
Every year, pet owners worldwide face the terrifying prospect of pet poisoning. Common household items like chocolate, medications, and even marijuana can harm our furry friends if ingested. With March being Pet Poisoning Awareness Month, we’re focused on helping you prevent these scary moments for you and your pet.
You may think that snack is harmless. Maybe an everyday cleaner is occasionally left out within the reach of your dog. Perhaps your cannabis products or prescription medications are more accessible to your dog than you thought. This article will help you make the safest choices possible to protect your dog from pet poisoning.
Safety and Prevention
March is National Pet Poison Prevention Awareness Month. The focus for March is to examine any breaches in safety related to poisons in and around your home so you can keep your dog safe.
Recent Trends in Pet Poisoning
New and longtime pet owners can accidentally poison their pets. New owners may lack awareness of common toxins. Longtime guardians may become more complacent over time. Common culprits include leaving medications within reach (both prescription and over the counter), using cleaning products without adequate ventilation, or forgetting the dangers of certain human foods including cannabis edibles. Sugar-free gum that contains xylitol can cause adverse reactions. Chocolate has theobromines which can elicit anxious and hyper behavior. Your favorite perfume may be too much for your dog.
Cannabis Exposure: In many states, when cannabis becomes legal, there was a rise in calls to veterinarian clinics and poison control centers. While 2024 showed a slight improvement, overall cases of pet poisoning from marijuana are on the rise. Edibles are the primary form through which pets are poisoned.
Rodenticides: Aww rats! Bromethalin is a potent neurotoxin. Anticoagulant Rodenticides halt blood coagulation which can be disastrous to dogs.
OTC’s: Over -the-counter medicines for humans, including pain relievers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen can cause accidental overdoses due to incorrect dosage.
Foods: Grapes, chocolate, raisins and the artificial sweetener xylitol are common culprits of pet poisoning. Garlic and onions can also be problematic so avoid giving your dog meats and vegetables that are mixed with vegetables from the allium family.
Household Hazards: In 2023 more than 400,000 pets were assisted by the ASPCA through their poison control center for poisoning from common household cleaners and battery ingestion. Deoxidizer packets in foods, pills, and vitamins are also problematic when ingested. Batteries, regardless of whether they are alkaline, button, or lithium, can cause internal chemical burns. Heavy metal poisoning is another concern with battery ingestion.
Essential Oils, Perfumes, and Scented Products. You may love the scent of your room deodorizer, perfume, or essential oil but many of the ingredients in these products may be toxic to your pup. Ethanol (alcohol), phthalates, and synthetic compounds are common ingredient to watch for in perfumes. Toxic essential oils that are often used in candles, diffusers, and incense include tea tree, wintergreen, citrus oil, pine oil, cinnamon, peppermint, clove and ylang ylang.
Best Practices
Cannabis and Medications: Use child-resistant containers that are locked away in a child-resistant drawer or a lockbox. If friends come over with edibles, inform them that you have pets and that their gummies and candies must be locked up immediately. Store edibles up high and away from human and pet food.
Rodenticides: These products need to be clearly labeled and out of reach from your pets. Check to see if there are pet-safe alternatives with bromethalin or anticoagulants to deal with your rat issue. Ensure these items along with chemical-based garden supplies are locked away.
Over-the-Counter-Medications: This includes herbs and alternative therapies. Lock these items up high and away from pets. Proper disposal is key, so ensure you have options other than your household garbage, or make sure your garbage can has a locking lid. Please note that it’s a good idea to check with your veterinarian before giving your pet any human medication. This is a common reason for pet poisoning.
Train Your Dog Cues Related to Ensuring Their Safety: Set your dog and family up for success with positive reinforcement training. Cues like “leave it” and “give” are powerful tools when your dog has something potentially dangerous already in their mouths. “Wait” and “stay” can come in handy before your dog gets something toxic in their mouths. Consider using protocols for counter surfing, mat training, and boundary training to keep your dog out of the kitchen, bathroom, or utility room, where common pet toxins are more easily found. If you’d like help learning these lifesaving skills, please book a discovery call with us!
Cleaners: Proper ventilation like opening windows, using fans, and air purifiers, can help mitigate toxic fumes in the air. Consider getting an air purifier with an AQI (air quality index) reading to track the quality of air when using cleaning products. Even if chemical fumes don’t bother you, they may very much bother your pet. Dogs, for example, have 300,000,000 scent receptors compared to humans’ 5,000,000. Keep cleaners locked up and look at the labels for further safety instructions.
Batteries: These should be locked up and disposed of in a locking garbage container or other safer form of disposal.
Perfumes, Essential oils, and Scented Products: These items need to be highly monitored when used around pets. Seek to minimize exposing your dog to toxic scents from diffusers, dryer sheets, candles, scented detergents, incense, perfumes, colognes, and essential oils. Dogs have sensitive respiratory systems so use scents with a good amount of ventilation and application in areas that won’t expose your dog. For example, apply perfume outdoors and away from your neck or wrists where your dog is likely to nuzzle or come in contact with you. Store fragrances in locked containers.
Know the Signs of Poisoning
Not every dog that is poisoned will show signs of it. For example, vitamin D poisoning can cause internal bleeding, but the effects can take several days to appear. The effects of poisoning from grapes or raisins can take days as well, so vigilance in storing all potential poisons is essential.
Common Signs of Pet Poisoning
Changes in appetite
Weakness or lethargy
Diarrhea or throwing up
Behavior changes (understanding canine body language and your dog’s particular body language can help)
Labored breathing or panting
Drooling
Seizures or excessive shaking
Sensitivity in the abdominal area
Gums that are pale
Staggering or appearing “drunk”
Specific Signs of Pet Poisoning
Batteries cause sores and burns in the mouth.
Chocolate may cause hyperactivity, abnormal heart rhythm, dehydration, high blood pressure, high temperatures.
Detergents and alcohol cause panting, muscle spasms, and twitching.
Fragrances cause multiple symptoms that include loss of appetite, lethargy, restlessness, withdrawing, pawing at the face, rashes, drooling, vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, sneezing, wheezing, hair loss, and more!
Garlic and onions can cause anemia.
Marijuana has multiple symptoms like loss of coordination, vomiting, slow heart rate. dilated pupils, hypersensitivity, depression or lethargy, and urinary incontinence.
NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory drugs) can cause vomiting, diarrhea, kidney failure, and stomach ulceration.
Rodenticides can cause bleeding.
Slug and snail bait contains metaldehyde and can cause feet twitching, convulsions, and respiratory failure.
Snake and spider bites can cause tremors, convulsions, and restlessness.
If you suspect your pet has been poisoned, don’t let embarrassment keep you from getting help. It’s better to make a mistake and seek immediate help than let your pet suffer.
Steps to take if You Think Your Pet Has Been Poisoned
Practice Calm: Even when you have taken precautions like locking up your medicines, edibles, perfumes, garden products, pest control, and batteries, mistakes can happen, and your pet may need help ASAP. First things first, don’t panic. Dogs can smell our elevated cortisol levels and respond to our stress with their own stress. This is especially unhelpful during an emergency. The more you can calm yourself, the more you can provide calm for your pet.
Assess Your Pet’s Condition by Carefully Observing Their Symptoms: Is your dog having trouble breathing or wobbly when walking? Does your pet shake all over or appear to be drooling? Are your dog’s eyes dilated or red and itchy? Make a note of every symptom so you can clearly communicate to your veterinarian what your dog may be experiencing.
Look for What the Substance Your Pet Ingested or Contacted: Do you see empty containers or shreds of paper and plastic from labels? Smell the air, look around the area, and try to determine the source of the poisoning.
Don’t try to induce vomiting: Wait until your veterinarian tells you to do so because you could actually cause more damage if a particular substance comes back up.
Refrain from Giving Your Dog Any Medication: Wait until your vet gives you the green light. Even well-intended herbal home remedies can cause more harm in a poisoning crisis.
Contact an Available Veterinary Clinic, Emergency Animal Hospital, or Pet Poison Helpline Immediately: You may need to make an appointment for your pet or get advice on steps to take to help your dog in the immediate moment. If you can, try to provide the following information:
Your dog’s sex, weight, breed(s), age, and current medicines or supplements your dog takes. If your dog has a current medical diagnosis or disability, provide those details as well.
What you think your dog ingested or came in contact with, how much you think they were exposed to, and when you think the poisoning occurred.
Tell them the specific unusual behaviors and signs of poisoning your seeing. If you are able to take your dog’s pulse, give the professional that information too.
Take Your Pup to the Nearest Available Veterinary Practice: If you have been instructed to bring your dog in for an evaluation, continue to try and stay calm during transport. Be mindful of how you transport your pet, making sure to keep them as comfortable as possible. You may need to cover your seats in your vehicle with old towels to prevent messes.
Give Your Pet the Recommended Treatment or Medications: To help your dog feel better, administer treatments following instructions carefully. Make sure to ask follow-up questions if any directions are confusing. It’s better to ask questions than just wing it.
Let Go of Guilt: No one is perfect. If a poisoning happens, do your best to help your pet recover. Once the crisis is over, evaluate weak spots in your pet’s environment related to exposure to poisons. Take the needed precautions, then focus on taking care of yourself. For some, post-crisis counseling, talking to a trusted friend, or writing about your experience can be a helpful way to understand and move on from the event.
Some Other Ways You Can Help Your Pet: Consider taking pet CPR/first aid classes, taking a course on emergency preparedness, and dog training classes or private training. All of these skills can come in handy when you need to act fast to keep your dog safe.
Final Thoughts
Time is of the essence if you suspect your pet has been poisoned. Having your local veterinary office phone number near your phone as well as your nearest 24-hour pet emergency clinic will help you talk to someone who can help. If you’re having trouble getting ahold of someone locally, have the ASPCA Poison Control line handy at 1-(888) 426-4435 as well as the Pet Poison Helpline phone number handy. That number is: 1-855-764-7661.
Pet poisoning is preventable. If recent trends show us anything, there will only be more and more toxins to for us to consider as pet owners and guardians. With the advent of psilocybin growing in popularity, we may see even more recreational drug poisonings. We also know there will never be a shortage to toxic chemicals that are so common to us, it’s easy to forget they’re harmful to dogs.
If we apply best practices, such as prevention strategies like keeping potential poisons locked up and inaccessible to our pets, then we can keep out pets from getting poisoned in the first place. Knowing the signs of not only general poisoning symptoms but signs of specific poisons like onions, perfumes, or snake bites can get you the help you need faster, especially when talking to a veterinarian. If a poisoning occurs, take the steps outlined in this article to get your dog the care they need while cultivating calm.
The bond between you and your dog is precious. Protect that bond by taking pet poison prevention seriously. A little effort can make a world of difference