National Animal Poison Prevention Week: How to Keep Your Pets Safe

National Animal Poison Prevention Week is March 20^th to March 26th, so there’s no better time than now to ensure that your home is pet-safe and potential toxins are out of sight and out of mind.

If you suspect your pet has ingested poison, contact your veterinarian or poison control center immediately and be prepared to answer the following questions:

Name of the suspected poison
How much was absorbed, ingested, or inhaled
How long ago you believe the poisoning occurred
Weight of your pet

Signs of poisoning include vomiting, tremors, excessive salivation, change in color of gums, and increases or decreases in heart rate, breathing rate, and body temperature.

How to Protect Your Cat from Potential Poisons

Our feline friends are constantly exploring their surroundings, harnessing their natural instincts to investigate and hone their hunting skills. Unfortunately, cats’ propensity for discovery can easily get them into trouble.

There’s a myth floating around that cats are less susceptible to poisoning than dogs thanks to their more discriminate eating tendencies, but that’s simply not the case. When you couple felines’ curious nature with their grooming habit of licking substances found on their coats, they prove far from immune from the perils of poison. In fact, poisons and toxic substances can be even more hazardous to felines, since they have smaller body sizes and digestive systems less capable of breaking down certain substances.

It’s not uncommon for veterinarians and animal clinics to field frantic phone calls from owners who’ve discovered their cat ingested something that’s potentially toxic. With proper education and preventive efforts, though, we can strive to minimize such situations. National Animal Poison Prevention Week represents a campaign designed to raise awareness regarding dangerous substances and how to handle a poison-related emergency.

Lead Toxicity

Lead toxicity refers to poisoning due to ingestion or inhalation of products containing the element lead.

Cats can run into lead poisoning if they get into:

Household items, such as drapery weights, linoleum, rug padding, and foil from the tops of wine bottles.
Automotive parts, such as batteries, wheel weights, leaded gasoline, and discarded oil from cars using leaded gasoline.
Construction materials, such as solder, putty, and caulking.
Plumbing and roofing materials.

Plants

Plants are another example of something that cats love, but can be extremely dangerous. Springtime holidays are often associated with bulb plants, which can cause severe illness if ingested.

Here are some of the most common spring and summer holiday plants and information on their toxicity:

Easter lily (Lilium or Hemorocallis sp.). This plant has serious toxic effects in cats. Kidney failure, vomiting, and depression can occur after ingesting a small amount. So far, only cats seem to be affected.
Tulip (Tulip spp.). Ingestion can result in intense vomiting, depression, diarrhea, drooling, and lack of appetite.
Hyacinth (Hyacinthus oreintalis). Ingestion can result in intense vomiting, diarrhea, depression, and tremors.
Daffodil (Narcissus spp). Ingestion can result in severe gastrointestinal illness, convulsions, seizures, low blood pressure, and tremors.
Peace lily (Spathiphyllum spp). Ingestion can result in ulcers in the mouth, vomiting, and diarrhea.

How to Protect Your Dog from Toxins

Some of the more common poisons dogs ingest include insecticides, antifreeze, household cleaning solutions, and poisonous plants. Human foods — such as chocolate — can also be harmful. A poison’s overall effect on your canine is based on the amount of poison ingested and how long that poison was in the body prior to treatment.

The effects of a poison aren’t always immediate, and can take days or weeks to materialize. Therefore, if you witness your pet ingesting a potentially toxic substance, don’t be lured into a false sense of security simply because they aren’t immediately ill. Every toxic ingestion is cause for concern and should prompt an immediate call to your veterinarian or local animal emergency facility.

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Prescription drugs. The container may be child-proof, but your dog will be persistent in chewing off the lid and getting to the pills inside. All drugs should be placed out of reach of dogs and children.
Over-the-counter medication. The same risks apply with OTC drugs. It is also important to remember that certain OTC drugs won’t have the same effect on pets. (Aspirin, for instance, can be dangerous.)
Plants. Pets are infamous for their creative destruction of plants. For dogs, most grasses are non-toxic, while ingesting poinsettia stems and leaves may cause some stomach upset and vomiting.
Household products and cleaners. Household products and cleaners vary quite a bit in chemical makeup and toxicity. Soaps, detergents, shampoos, alcohols, petroleum distillates, and acids are some common ingredients. They can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or chemical burns, leading to organ damage.

Resources for National Animal Poison Prevention Week:

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