Poisons

If you know or suspect that your pet has ingested a poisonous substance you need to do two things immediately:

• Bring your pet to the emergency center immediately.
• If possible collect and bring the poisonous substance
• Bring any substance vomited.

You can call the Animal Poison Control number for information at:

• 900.680.0000 ($55 tel.charge)
• 888.426.4435 ($55 credit card)
• Animal Poison Control Center website: www.aspca.org

Poisonous Substances

• Anti-freeze:
  all forms of this substance are deadly poisonous to your pet, even the smallest amount. Unfortunately animals are attracted to the taste of anti-freeze. It can cause massive kidney failure and requires immediate treatment at the clinic.
• Foods:
  chocolate, onions, onion powder, alcohol, yeast dough, coffee, tea, macadamia nuts, salt, beer, tomato, potato and rhubarb leaves, avocado, mouldy food. At holiday times, please avoid feeding your pet foods that are too rich and too salty for its health. At Christmas watch carefully to ensure that pets do not ingest silver foil or tree ornaments.
• Household Chemicals:
  many cause serious gastric distress, and the following are lethal - mothballs, dishwashing detergent and fabric softener sheets.
• Human medicines:
  pill boxes and tubes of medicine can seem like a toy to many animals - keep out of reach: never use any over the counter medicines without your veterinarians advice. Ibuprofen/Tylenol: dogs and cats cannot tolerate ibuprofen or acetaminophen
• Plants:
  toxicity in this category varies; the following can be fatal
  - azalea
  - castor bean
  - daffodil
  - Easter lily
  - foxglove
  - ivy
  - Kentucky Coffee Bean pod
  - lily of the valley
  - mistletoe
  - oleander
  - poinsettia
  - sago palm
  - tobacco
  - yew.
  Most pets will not ingest them voluntarily: however there are a vairety of plants that can cause painful reactions just by contact.
• Rat Poison:
  ingestion of these toxic substances requires immediate treatment of your pet at the clinic with charcoal. Please note that there are safer ways to deal with mice and rats. Ask us.