Category: Toxicity

83 Halloween Hazards

So Halloween is less than a week away and we will be facing tricks and treats.

I usually see 3 problem areas with Halloween: ingestion of Halloween candy, behavior problems triggered by strangers ringing door bells, and costumes

Over the years I have seen dogs eat a lot of Halloween candy, wrappers and all. Don’t think that just because it’s all little fun sized individually wrapped Snickers in a bowl on the table or by the front door that Fido won’t counter surf and snag some. Or eat the whole bowl (seen it happen). Be prudent, store in closed containers out of the dog zone until the big night, and then be careful.

The biggest danger in Halloween candy is chocolate toxicity obviously, but all those wrappers can be hard to digest. According to candystore.com, the 3 most popular Halloween candy by sales in Texas are Reese’s peanut butter cups, Starburst, and Almond Joy. So chocolate is in 2 of the 3. Most dogs love peanut butter and it isn’t dangerous, but can be high in fat. I have seen some dogs with pancreatitis after eating snacks high in fat. I don’t see toxicity with most other candy, just sugar overload.

Many dogs are highly vocal and anxious when the door bell rings so Halloween is a big problem for them. For mildly agitated dogs, simply confining them far away from the door and chimes and distracting them with a loud TV show will do the trick. You might even add the calming pheromone Adaptil in a spray or plug in form. For the moderately affected dogs, some oral antianxiety medicine like trazadone might help them decrease the anxiety. For the most severely affected dogs, disabling the door bell, and doing all the above might be necessary. We certainly don’t want any Trick or Treaters bitten when we open the door to give out candy. These kids look cute, but to a dog they may look like big trouble when their job is to protect the family.

Lastly, costumes can really frighten some dogs. I remember one year I wore a bird mask with a large pointy beak and feathers. It really triggered many dogs to bark at me because it was so unfamiliar. Use caution when getting dogs and cats to wear Halloween costumes. They can be cute, but many fit poorly, limit mobility, or the pets just tear them off. I haven’t had to do GI surgery to remove a pet costume yet, but I am sure some vets have.

The AVMA website also suggests using caution with candles or jack-o-lanterns, and keeping your pet inside (especially those black cats) on the big night.

On a fun note, if your dog is well behaved in noisy crowds of people, the City of Lewisville invites them to the Halloween Bash in Wayne Ferguson Plaza  from 5-7 pm on Tuesday, Oct 30, for live music by Le Freak!

Have and fun and safe Halloween!

62 Fruit and pets

I had the good fortune recently to be gifted with 60-80 # of small plums. They weren’t all ripe, so I was able to process then in several “batches” as they ripened. First I made plum wine (8 gallons), and then I made plum jelly (31 jars). Later I made Chinese Plum sauce, and lastly I made some plum jam with extra flavorings like cinnamon & orange zest. I went “plum crazy” and got “plum tired”. At one point I had a gallon pail of discarded plum pits and skins that I was planning to throw out, but still kept adding to it. I wondered what would happen if my Sheltie decided to eat the plum parts. After a little extra reading, I was glad he didn’t and I threw them away immediately.
I figure there are some common fruits that our pets might encounter: apples, bananas, strawberries, peaches, plums, cherries, nectarines, grapes (raisins), watermelon (melons), and avocados. Most are very healthy for humans and dogs. I didn’t mention cats because they seldom choose to eat fruit, but if they did the same comments apply.
Health benefits: tasty, sweet treats with high fiber
Health hazards: pits, intestinal obstruction, GI upsets, extra calories. Stone fruits like peach & plum have cyanide in the pits. Raisins, grapes and currants can to be toxic, causing kidney failure. Avocados contain persin, which isn’t toxic for dogs and cats, but can be for birds. Those big avocado pits could be a problem with obstruction even for big dogs.
Fortunately, I seldom see any of these. I have seen puppies get a good belly ache from eating rotting peaches and crab apples that fell from trees.
So enjoy your fruit, share it in moderation with your pets, but be careful with those pits. Go “plum wild!”
https://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/5-fruits-and-veggies-that-are-toxic-to-your-dog/
http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/raisins/

Avocado

Top 10 Animal Toxins of 2017

Every year the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) releases the top 10 categories of toxins that affect pets. The 2017 list was based on 199,000 cases of potential poisonings. This is not the same ratio I see at Garden Ridge, but it is interesting to see the trends.
1.Human prescription medications: 17.5%
At the top of their list is prescription pain medicine, antidepressants and heart medicines. They are usually accidental exposures
2. Over-the-counter medications: 17.4%
Just like last year, OTC came in 2nd place, and this includes vitamins, NSAIDS( like Tylenol, ibuprofen, and Aleve), antihistamines, cold medicines and probiotics.
3. Food: 10.9%
Some food may not be safe for pets, including, grapes and raisins, onions and garlic, avocados, macadamia nuts, alcohol, raw yeast bread dough and xylitol ( an artificial sweetener).
4. Veterinary products: 8.9%
This is usually over ingestion of flavored or chewable veterinary products. I once had a dog eat an entire bottle (30 doses) of a chewable Rimadyl, an arthritis medicine. We had to induce vomiting on that one.
5. Chocolate: 8.8%
In 2017 the Animal Poison Control Center fielded more than 48 calls a day about chocolate! It is a common problem around Valentine day, Easter and Christmas.
6. Household items: 8.6%
The Tide Challenge for dogs. These laundry pods are a problem for pets too.
7. Insecticides: 6.7%
The most common sources of insecticides are ant baits, bug strays, and yard products. I don’t see nearly as many of these as I used to.
8. Rodenticides: 6.3%
I would put this much higher on my list. While anticoagulant rodenticides are still available, bromethalin, a neurotoxin, is also seen and also very serious..
9. Plants: 5.4%
Plants like lilies (Lilium sp and Hemerocallis sp.) pose a serious danger for cats while Sago palm and oleander plants continue to be a serious danger for both dogs and cats. I have treated several dogs of the years for Sago palm liver toxicity. I wish plant nurseries would stop selling them.
10. Garden products: 2.6%
Garden products are another category that many pets find very tasty. Fertilizer, bone meal and compost are all garden products dogs find irresistible. APCC also gets a fair number of calls about herbicides. While not as tasty, use of herbicides in areas that pets frequent is usually the cause of those calls.
https://www.aspcapro.org/resource/top-10-animal-toxins-2017

#50 National Poison Control Prevention Week- March 18-24, 2018

Every year, the 3rd week in March is the National Poison Control Prevention Week. It is more geared for humans, but pets can be poisoned too.
As a vet, I get to see lots of accidental exposures to poisons in dogs and cats. The most common ones are chocolate (saw one today), rat poison, insecticides, sorbitol (an artificial sweetener), and human pharmaceutics (heart meds, ADHD, birth control pills). Fortunately, I seldom see the nasty ones like Tylenol toxicity in cats, antifreeze, and marijuana toxicity in dogs,
Just like we have to be careful with medications around children, we have to do the same around pets, especially the “my dog will eat anything” kind. So lock them up, use baby latches for cupboards, and store them up high. Don’t assume a childproof bottle will keep a determined Labrador out. It won’t, because they just eat the plastic! And just because your mom’s medicines are on her nightstand, don’t assume the cat won’t explore, knock them on the floor for the Chihuahua to eat. I’ve seen that.
But accidents sometimes happen, and they we go into Poison Control mode. The first step is always:
WHAT did he eat? Not as easy as it sounds when the bottle is missing, or the chocolate bag is shredded. But it is imperative that you bring in the box/wrapper/whatever with you for a possible toxicity. We can look up the exact ingredients. I have even had clients use their cell phones to look up the product on Amazon where they bought it. That helps.
HOW MUCH did he eat? Again not always easy, but we make our best guesses.
WHEN did he eat it? I used to think this was easy, but what if you just came home at 5 pm, and found chewed up pill vials. We never know if they ate it at 8 am or 5 minutes ago.
WHO ate it? I have had numerous cases of multiple dog households where we weren’t sure WHO at the rat poison. So we had to make them ALL vomit. They we could tell. Sometimes the answer is ALL of them.
WHY did he eat it? I never ask that. But I did have one dog that got into bags of Easter Candy not once, but twice before Easter. I did wonder why the owner bought more candy and assumed the dog wouldn’t get into the pantry again.
You can’t just call 911 and get a pet poison control. The best one for pets is Animal Poison Control Center, 855-764-7661, and it costs $59. It’s the one vets use.

Remember Pets during Poison Prevention Week March 18-24