Last week, during National Poison Prevention Week, I shared a story about my near death experience with Chocolate. Ok, I know it wasn’t near death, but other than the time when I was
a puppy and decided to chew on a lamp cord, that was the closest I have ever came to something really being wrong with me. (I know I live a pampered life). According to my friends at Protect Your Bubble pet insurance they get a lot of claims due to accidental poisoning. That got me wondering … what exactly should I avoid eating? I spent a lot of time researching poisonous pet items and I wanted to share with you what I found.
- Prescription Human Medication – This has topped the list from the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center almost every year. They handled over 25,000 cases due to human meds in 2012 alone. The most common offenders are heart medication, antidepressants, and pain medication. Most cases occur when a human drops the pill and we think it is something totally AWESOME and eat it before they can stop us.
- Insecticides – These are super bad for my friends the cats. Over half of the calls to the ASPCA center last year were due to cats that had been exposed to insecticides. This is a tricky toxin for us pets. Heck, you humans actually pay lawn companies to come out and spay it all over our yards sometimes. This is why we have to encourage our pet parents to really pay attention to the insecticides labels on the products
they use. - Over-the-Counter Human Medication – See number one above. Us dogs like pills, period. In addition to thinking we have run across a stray treat, often those herbal and nutraceutical products, for example fish oil, smell great to us pets. This means you have to be just as careful with these as with prescription medications.
- Veterinary Products and Medication – Ok humans, think about this for a minute. Almost all our meds from the vet are flavored so we will eat them. I have had pills in the past that tasted like chicken or peanut butter. So it only makes since that when given the chance that we would eat more than what we are supposed to and overdose.
- Household Products – You know us dogs will eat about anything given the chance. According to the ASPCA call center, they had over 10,000 calls ranging from fire logs to cleaning products. Some items such as cleaners can hurt our insides since they are corrosive while others require emergency surgery to get the item out of us.
- Human Food – I admit, your human food tastes so MUCH better than our dog or cat food (especially bacon). While most foods are ok for us to eat, some items such as grapes and raisins are a big no-no. Another item that will get us a fast pass to the vet office is xylitol (sugar substitute). This bad chemical is in sugarless gum (and other items) and can make our liver shutdown and give us seizures … YIKES!
- Chocolate – Ok, I think we have gone over this enough. I know, I know, no
chocolate for us. It can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, high heart rate, and seizures. - Plants – Some plants are very poisoness to us, especially for cats. Here is a post written by me about back when I started this blog about Bad plants
So this list got me thinking. If we do get into some of these bad items, what can our parents do to be prepared? First, let me say, please take us to the vet right away. This isn’t a time for our parents to just hope we get better. If your rents have pet insurance on you, now is the time to use it! I talked to my pals at Protect Your Bubble pet insurance and asked them how much a typical vet bill runs for an accidental poison incident. They said that on average it costs $1,600. Oh my dog!?!?! Since I don’t get that kind of allowance money, I can see why it is so important for us to have an insurance policy to cover the unexpected.
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