Pet Poison Prevention, Your pet animal can be a dog, cat, bird, or any animal. They are the first or the last member of your family, depending on the priority you give them. However, in both ways, they are also considered as your family. So, keeping them safe from any harm is your need. Many things lying around the home can harm your pet in the way of poisoning at different levels. There are Animal PoisonLine services available to help you in this situation.
However, preventing these kinds of situations is the right way to keep your pet safe. There are possibilities for many poisonous items to show up on-site of your dog or cat. They will try to smell, bite, or eat and test what it is with their instincts. We cannot get mad at them because they are built to be adventurous. If something like that happened to the pet, immediate treatment is inevitable.
Small or big doesn’t matter; all levels of poisoning in pets should be taken with extreme care. Even if some small poisoning items may not give out many problems on the spot, they can be a trouble maker in the future. To understand this topic, let us go through some information to know if your pet is poisoned and how to take care of it.
Foods that graded as harmful to pets
Before going into the steps of confirming and treating poisoning in pets, here is a list of food items that can cause poisoning in your pet.
- The first and most heard food item that can poison your pet dog is chocolate products. All those cocoa-based products are considered one of the leading causes of tummy aches and even death. Theobromine and caffeine are the two essential contents of chocolate, and both of them can cause problems in a pet.
So, keeping away food items with chocolate as an ingredient is the first thing to do if you need to increase pet safety inside your house. Artificial sweeteners used in food items named Xylitol are also poisonous to your pets.
- If any alcoholic products are lying around your house, never make it easy for your pets to find them on their way. It can happen by taking in alcoholic substances such as breweries or other solid alcoholic food items. Another way of getting poisoned by alcohol can occur by eating rotten fruits or food items that include ethanol.
- Hops that are used for brewery purposes also are poisonous to your pets. Resins, essential oils, and other ingredients of hope can cause fever and other heart-related problems.
- Plant species like onions, garlic, leeks, etc., are also harmful to pets. Food items that included these items are often founded to cause problems in cats and dogs. Several minerals contained in these plants will be converted into sulfur forms when they chew them. Symptoms of poisoning that happened due to these food items may not be visible until several days in some cases.
- Other food items that are delicious to humans and poisonous to pets are macadamia nuts and grape and their dried products. Macadamia nuts are one of our favorite and healthy snacks. The effects will take place for these nuts will take place within 12 hours. Essential treatments can be done and save the pet if you find the problem on time.
Confirming Poisoning in Pets
It is always a problem for pet owners to find if their pet is poisoned or not. There might be other reasons, too, for your pet showing the same symptoms like they do when poisoned. You can identify the problem through different symptoms, including vomiting, breathing problems, etc.
Agitation, diarrhea, heart problems, agitation, and unconsciousness are some of the most seen symptoms if swallowed or smelled poisons. For poisons affected by touching can be recognized from itching, pain, or irritation in your pet.
However, your pet might not show the symptoms of the poison effect inside them instantly sometimes. So, if you came to know that your pet consumed toxic content in ways, it is critical to take them to a vet as soon as possible.
Excessive panting in a pet should be noted, and one needs to confirm it’s not a poisonous effect. A most common item that poisons pets is chocolates. The symptoms of poisoning happened by chocolate include an increase in urination, unstoppable shaking, vomiting, restlessness, seizures, and heart rate fluctuations.
There are chances for your dog or cat to get in contact with the rat poison you laid around to get rid of rats. Accidentally coming in touch in any way can cause problems for all kinds of animals. Moreover, the situation gets worst if it went inside of the pet as food. It can be identified with vomiting, shaking, coma, lethargy, seizures, and balance loss.
Some high-grade rat poisons are more dangerous for pets. The symptoms might not show until four or five days after getting in contact with the poisonous substance. These kinds of toxins make an extreme level of vitamin-k that can cause even blood clotting inside the pet.
What To Do If Your Pet Is Poisoned?
If you find that your dog is exposed to toxins, you need to act quickly. These are the basic steps to be taken if you find your pet is exposed or poisoned by toxic substances
- Identify the toxin
The number one question you should be asking yourself should be this- what is the poison, and how did it come in contact with the animal? Find out if it was ingested or touched or came into contact by some other means. If there is any residue of packaging of the culprit poison, take it with you on your way to the vet.
- Take your pet to the vet
Never try to self-treat your dog. Always avail of the medical assistance of a skilled and certified veterinarian. Do not attempt to give your dog any natural remedy without medical advice too.
Take your pet immediately to the nearby vet and try to provide them with as much information as you can about the poison and how it came in contact with the pet. If your pet has any medical records, take them with you.
- Induce vomiting
If you are unable to reach a vet in time, there are several things you can do under the supervision of an expert. If you can contact your vet by phone, they may give you to try some quick medical tips. Induced vomiting can help the pet throw up the ingested substance.
You can try giving some hydrogen peroxide to your pet to induce vomiting. Follow the procedure exactly as your vet tells you. Remember, induced vomiting is not always safe, and you must not administer it without the supervision of a certified vet.
- Bathe
If the toxin is not ingested and only physical contact has happened, you can wash or bathe your pet. Clean your pet’s body with some strong cleanser and water. Do not apply any unknown chemicals. You can soak your pet until the poison is completely removed from his/her body surface.
Prevention and being ready for an emergency
Pet owners must be aware of the poisonous objects and chemicals around their house. Keep cleaning products and other harmful objects away from the pet’s reach. Do not leave things like grease, oil, and fertilizers out in the open. Pet owners must be cautious about throwing away old or food with mold that their pet can accidentally ingest.
Things like detergents, toothpaste, bleach, and brushes must also be kept safe from the pet. And more importantly, pet owners must always be ready for a poison emergency. Ensure you have a veterinarian accessible to you anytime and have all your pet’s medical documents intact. Pet owners must provide immediate treatment to their pet if the animal starts to show any poisoning symptoms.
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