What To Keep Out Of Pets Reach

It can happen to even the best of pet lovers: You turn around for just a minute or accidentally leave your purse unattended, and your beloved furbaby ingests a potentially harmful or fatal pet poison.

So what can you do to try and prevent this from happening and to keep your babies safe from accidental harm? The first thing is to be educated on common pet poisons and remain diligent about keeping these items out of their reach.

Here is a list of commonly found items around your homes that can be dangerous to your pets. For a complete list of pet toxins, visit the Pet Poison Helpline at www.petpoisonhelpline.com

If you think your pet may have ingested a potentially poisonous item, contact your veterinarian or pet poison helpline immediately.

F or D ogs Chocolate tops the food warnings. Caffeine and theobromine cause toxicosis and may bring seizures and death. Dark chocolate and cooking chocolate rank highest in harm, and we all know coffee has caffeine in it. CHOCOLATE & COFFEE

Grapes sound like a great snack, except for the acute renal failure your dog might incur. Your kidneys won’t fail, but theirs might. Raisins are really just dried grapes, so they count, too. Onions kill canine blood cells, resulting Heinz Body Anemia which can be life-threatening. Onion powder in food is enough to do this, so attention to ingredients is crucial. GRAPES ONIONS

Some common household and garden plants are very dangerous for cats. Only one bite of the petals or leaves can kill a cat! Even licking the pollen or lapping up water from the vase can result in severe, potentially irreversible acute kidney failure. Lilies are particularly toxic. Laundry detergent, drain cleaner, toilet bowl cleaner, and other household cleaners. Keep your cat out of the room while you’re scrubbing toilets or doing laundry. Some household cleaning products, when ingested by a cat, can cause profuse drooling, chemical burns, vomiting, and difficulty breathing. POISONOUS PLANTS DETERGENTS & CLEANERS

Macadamia nuts are particularly poisonous to dogs, and it’s easy to forget if they’re in cookies and snacks, you might be tempted to share. MACADAMIA NUTS RAW MEAT ALCOHOLCHICKEN BONES Raw meat thrown to the dog is something you see in the movies, but our domesticated dogs aren’t wild anymore, and some are susceptible to salmonella and other bacteria. Alcohol can cause the same liver and kidney damage it does to humans. It can also cause acidosis in your dog and end in cardiac arrest. Chicken bones can splinter and do all sorts of harm. In fact, cooked bones of any kind may be brittle and hazardous.

Human antidepressants are like catnip to cats. They love the smell of common antidepressants such as Effexor, Prozac, Cymbalta, and Zoloft and can’t resist eating the pill. They can cause lethargy, tremors, seizures, vomiting, diarrhea, and hyperthermia in cats. Onions kill blood cells, resulting Heinz Body Anemia which can be life-threatening. Onion powder in food is enough to do this, so attention to ingredients is crucial. ANTIDEPRESSANTS DOG FLEA MEDICATION ONIONS Flea and tick topical medications for dogs are harmful to cats. Never apply an insecticide intended for dogs (even small dogs) to your cat. These medications often contain high concentrations of a chemical derived from the Chrysanthemum flower – a chemical that is highly toxic to cats.