Posted on 03/19/2013 8:28:22 AM PDT by Slings and Arrows
It can happen to even the best pet owners. You turn around for one second and the dog is into the chocolate that was sitting on the counter, or the cat has discovered the Easter lily you thought was safely out of the way.
"We just don't realize how determined our pets are to eat the things they shouldn't," says Dr. Tina Wismer, DVM, medical director for the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center.
See Also: 6 Human Foods to NEVER Feed Your Pet
Of the more than 180,000 cases that the organization handled in 2012, most of them involved pets who'd ingested human prescriptions. "Many children with ADHD don't want to take their medications, so they leave pills on their plates, where pets can get at them," Dr. Wismer says. "Even nonprescription medications, such as ibuprofen, can be a problem because many brands have a sweet coating, so it's like candy for dogs."
As part of National Poison Prevention Week (March 17-23), Vetstreet has compiled an A to Z list of some common pet poisons that should be on your radar. This list is not all-inclusive, so for more information on these and many other toxins, check out the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center website and talk with your vet.
(Excerpt) Read more at shine.yahoo.com ...
I learned something.
Glad to help.
When my golden was a pup, he polished off an entire chocolate birthday cake. Went into his cage, we all heard the moan and barf...
3 years later, you put chocolate near my dog and he runs away.
“... quite a bit of tinfoil in his kennel...”
Short story: a friend’s dog got into the Christmas stockings and consumed about a bag and a half of the green and red foiled Hershey Kisses. Nothing happened to the dog BUT the backyard looked like it had been decorated for the season. Little red and green foil.... glimmered at night. LOL!
He went where good dogs go when they finally leave their master.
I was up to Prior Lake last year and it seemed like I could still call him in from his afternoon swim.
Regarding the link in post warning against giving pets human foods:
I am currently in a heated argument with the Husband about the dangers of giving dogs onions and garlic (doesn’t matter if it is raw, cooked, chopped or powder). He insists that giving them a cooked meatbal containing garlic and onion is harmless since they have never shown any signs of sickness and says that “it’s a scare tactic that Dr’s and the med. community constantly putting out there without proper research”.
I want to choke him. I say just knock it off and we won’t have to worry about who’s right and who’s wrong, just don’t give them the friggin meatballs!!!
Weird about garlic’s being deadly to cats. My late Tiger loved to eat raw garlic when she was a kitten, never had a flea, and lived to be 19-1/2 years old. Of course, at the time I had no idea that it could harm her, but after I found out about its toxicity, I didn’t give it to her anymore.
Sorry to hear that you lost your precious Max. Only one month ago! It must still hurt so bad. You have my deepest sympathy, and may God grant you solace and peace.
I had a female sheltie who did the same thing. She was old and ill at the time, and I thought it might have a very bad effect on her; but, shiny bits in her poop was it.
Here’s another one for the list:
Water chestnuts. Apparently SOME dogs cannot digest them...mine included. We give her leftover steamed vegetables (which she loves). I happened to buy a “mix” that included a couple of types of beans and sliced water chestnuts. Poor thing was still throwing them up two days later (completely undigested)...I felt so bad!
Thanks for the heads up.
My new cat enjoys wires so I have them sprayed with bitter stuff and all the electricity gets turned off when I’m not home. She is starting to find toys amusing (:
Better to be safe than sorry. I sure hope cocoa mulch was on that list (I got the 6, but never found the 26)
They left out that pointsetias are toxic to kitties.
Please note lillies are mentioned in the article as well.
My kitty once got into some roses, the day later I had rose potpourri in her litter box. No damage to the cat but I don’t have plants anymore inside.
Really good ping. Especially onions and chocolate.
Thank you. The vet was so comforting — even though he was new to me and to our dog.
We’d spent 6 months with another vet who had failed to diagnose what was wrong with our dog. The new vet didn’t either, but by then our poor dog had lost so much weight that diagnosis could ony mean one or two things — all bad. We decided to put him down, and the vet asked to do a necropsy (for free) to satisfy himself. It came back pancreatic cancer. That was a relief to know that we had done everythng we could and the outcome was foregone.
Max spent 2 days and one night in his care, but he looked at me and said, “I can tell that he was a good dog.” I can’t tell you how comforting that was.
I have an ongoing discussion w/my vet over this. 4 dogs survived spaghetti sauce, chili and various other meals just fine with no anemia.
The *puppy* is now nearly 80 pounds at 6 1/2 months and I do make sure he gets a limited exposure to onion, but all my recipes begin with *saute one onion....*. My last dog, who lived to be over 12 loved green grapes IF we peeled them for him. He never got too many and was put down when his rear end gave out, but was otherwise healthy.
I dehydrate liver for the pup’s training treats and sprinkle w/about 1/8 tsp of garlic powder. Vet agrees this is too little to hurt and the pup loves it.
Vet says he has never seen a dog ill from chocolate, except for some diarrhea. It depends on how much chocolate and what degree of cocoa it contains. Dark bittersweet is more dangerous than milk chocolate. He tells the story of little peke who ate an entire box of Godiva chocolates and was just fine, if a bit messy on his walks for a few days.
I once knew someone who had an ongoing feud w/the neighborhood dog pack. She ruined a batch of brownies and purposely put it out for the dogs, hoping to kill them. They ate it all and survived. Nasty lady who died shortly thereafter. ‘Nuf said.
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