Following a request via my Substack chat, here is an article on poisoning….
Thankfully, poisoning cases in animals are relatively rare but it’s important to know what to do and what not to do if you are suspicious or know it has occurred. The vast majority of cases are usually accidental, or are the result someone cutting corners and trying to save money whether on inferior feed ingredients or time on proper management practices, eg careless placement of rat poison. On very rare occasions, poisoning might be malicious which requires police investigation and public warnings for others to be vigilant and not take unnecessary risks.
When suspicious poisoning has occurred with something completely unknown it is very difficult and expensive to identify what the cause is without a clue as to what to look for. Tests can screen for certain suspected substances, but it isn’t possible to just do a blood test and miraculously identify whatever has been used. It is possible to spend huge amounts of money on tests and be none the wiser. Treatment can therefore only be based on symptoms in these cases.
Pets
Poisoning in dogs and cats can occur due to a variety of substances, and it is crucial for pet owners to recognize the symptoms and act quickly. Here are some of the most common poisoning issues and steps owners can take immediately. This is not exhaustive by any means and not all plants and toxins mentioned will be relevant to all countries where my subscribers and followers live, so don’t get too alarmed if there are some you don’t recognise! However, I would recommend checking out any you don’t recognise just in case its something you should be aware of.
Common Poisons
Foods
Chocolate: Contains theobromine and caffeine, which are toxic to pets.
Grapes and Raisins: Can cause kidney failure in dogs.
Onions: damages the red blood cells and causes haemolytic anaemia.
Xylitol: Increasingly common in sugar-free foods such as chewing gum. It tricks the body into a rapid insulin release, leading to hypoglycaemia.
Beware of ingredients in human foods such as fruitcake and pastries (raisins), bone broth (onion), “diet” products (xylitol) etc. Christmas and Easter are high risk times because of the traditional foods often eaten and available at those festive times. Social gatherings where plates with leftovers might be inadvertently left in range and you’re distracted being the perfect host are potentially hazardous.
Plants
Lilies: Extremely toxic to cats, causing kidney failure.
Foxgloves: contains cardiac glycosides, which can have severe effects on the heart if chewed or eaten.
Tulips and Daffodils: Bulbs are particularly toxic, so be wary if they become exposed after digging etc.
Household Chemicals
Antifreeze (Ethylene Glycol): Causes kidney failure.
Rodenticides: contain anticoagulants that cause internal bleeding or hypercalcaemia.
Cleaning Products: Various effects depending on the chemical, often causing gastrointestinal and respiratory distress.
Medications
Human Medications: Acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and various other prescription drugs can be highly toxic. Tablets intended for adult human consumption are likely to contain a dose significantly higher than would be regarded as safe for a smaller pet just based on size alone.
Veterinary Medications: Overdoses can be harmful, so best to keep a written record with the medication of who has given what dose when, so the chances of repeat dosing by another well-meaning member of the family doesn’t happen.
If you take your dog to wander around where you keep your horse, be aware around horse worming time. Horse wormer will be present in the horses’ droppings and available for dogs to eat off the muck heap, stable floor before mucking out and off the paddock. It is vital when horses are often all wormed together on a yard that poo picking the fields is kept up together at this time.
In all cases, the margin for error with medications will depend on how close the therapeutic dose is to the toxic dose and how many tablets are required to exceed it.
Insecticides and Pesticides
Can cause a range of symptoms from gastrointestinal upset to neurological issues. This includes medicines intended to treat your pets. See my recent Substack article on Fleas and Ticks.
Symptoms of Poisoning
Vomiting and diarrhoea
Drooling or foaming at the mouth
Lethargy or restlessness
Tremors or seizures
Difficulty breathing
Pale, jaundiced or dark purple gums.
Loss of coordination
Immediate Actions
Stay Calm and Assess the Situation
Try to determine what your pet has ingested and approximately how much, and when. Be realistic.
Prevent Further Exposure
Remove your pet from the source of poisoning (or vice versa) if it’s still present.
Ensure other pets and people are kept away from the area.
Clear the hazard wearing protective gloves etc if appropriate and safe to do so. If there are fumes involved, open a window and ventilate the area. Adding water to some hazards is contraindicated as it can make things worse, so try to establish what it is before doing this. If you are unsure about the best way to clean it up, find out before trying to do so.
Contact Your Veterinarian and/or an advice line
Call your veterinarian immediately for advice. They will need to know what the poison is before they can properly advise you on what to do, if anything prior to bringing your pet in for treatment and/or observation. If it’s something obscure they may need to find out themselves. There are poison helplines for vets that will give a more practical and technical advice for products we don’t necessarily know the dangers for.
If your veterinarian is unavailable, contact another practice or a pet poison helpline. This isn’t necessarily the time for vet/practice loyalty when you need the best information as quickly as possible. See the resources at the end of the article for suggested useful numbers.
Do Not Induce Vomiting Without Veterinary Advice
Inducing vomiting can sometimes cause more harm, especially with certain chemicals and sharp objects.
Provide Information
If at all possible, have the packaging of the ingested substance when you call the veterinarian. They will need to know the active ingredients and their concentration in preference to a product brand name. There may be a product insert that lists all the ingredients and gives relevant advice.
Note the time of ingestion, what symptoms you have observed and their progression. This might help your veterinarian get an idea of how much your pet has ingested. More severe symptoms and a faster deterioration would tend to suggest either a bigger dose has been ingested and/or more time has passed for the toxin to be absorbed.
Activated Charcoal
If advised by a vet, you might administer activated charcoal to help absorb toxins in the gastrointestinal tract. It’s worth having some in your emergency kit just in case.
Hydrogen Peroxide (3%)
Only use if specifically instructed by a vet to induce vomiting in dogs. The typical dose is 1 teaspoon per 5 pounds of body weight, but never exceed 3 tablespoons. If you don’t have any peroxide, strong salty water will also induce vomiting.
Keep Your Pet Calm and Warm
Try to keep your pet calm and limit their movement to prevent the poison from spreading more quickly through their system. Carry them if you can.
Transporting your pet to the Veterinarian
Safely Contain Your Pet: Use a carrier or keep them securely in the car. Drive quickly but safely without causing any distress to your pet from violent cornering etc.
Bring Any Evidence: Bring the packaging of the substance if you have it, a sample of vomit and/or a picture of it if it’s not easy to get a sample and so your veterinarian can see how much there has been. If in doubt take whatever you think might be relevant to the veterinarian.
Preventing Poisoning
Secure Toxic Substances: Keep foods, plants, chemicals, and medications out of reach of your pets and your children. If necessary, lock them away so they can’t be accessed except by you.
Pet-Proof Your Home: Regularly check for and remove potential hazards, especially with puppies and kittens that are more likely to explore new areas and who try to eat anything and everything! This includes potentially toxic house plants.
Educate Household Members: Ensure everyone knows what substances are harmful to pets. Bear in mind that children might decide to share their food with your dog/cat.
Quick action and knowing what to do can significantly improve the chances of recovery for a pet that has been poisoned. Always err on the side of caution and seek professional advice and help as soon as possible.
Horses
Poisoning in horses is thankfully rare, but as with poisoning in pets, it's vital for horse owners to recognize the symptoms and take immediate action. Here are some of the most common poisoning issues and steps owners can take. As with the section on pets some of what is listed may not occur in your country, or there may only be certain varieties:
Common Poisons
Plants
Red Maple Leaves: Can cause haemolytic anaemia.
Oleander: Extremely toxic, affecting the heart.
Yew: Causes very fast and sudden death due to heart failure. Will often see the yew still in the mouth. Check all field boundaries and make sure horses cannot reach it if present.
Bracken Fern: Leads to thiamine deficiency and neurological symptoms.
Hemlock: Causes respiratory failure.
Ragwort: Leads to liver failure – not usually voluntarily eaten unless there’s no grass left to eat. Most poisoning occurs from inclusion in hay
Feed Contaminants
Mouldy Hay or Feed: Moulds can produce mycotoxins which is fed will accumulate and can lead to neurological or gastrointestinal issues.
Ergot Poisoning: Ergotism is caused by the ingestion of ergot-contaminated grains or grasses. Ergot is a fungus that grows on rye and other cereals, as well as on grasses such as wheat, barley, oats, and others. This fungus produces toxic alkaloids that can cause severe health issues in horses and other animals. It is more difficult to spot in compounded hard feeds than straights.
Blister Beetles in Alfalfa Hay: Can cause severe colic and urinary issues. Not found in the UK, but is found in some states in the USA, some southern European countries and some other African and Asian countries too.
Chemicals
Pesticides and Herbicides: Can cause a range of symptoms depending on the chemical and how well the body can metabolise and clear it if it is an ongoing contaminant of feeds.
Feed companies don’t on the whole test for their presence and glyphosate especially is commonly present on grains which are sprayed just prior to harvest because glyphosate acts as a desiccant and reduces wastage.
Rodenticides: Lead to internal bleeding or other systemic effects.
Medications
Overdoses or Wrong Medications: Such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) leading to ulcers and/or kidney damage. Steroids can cause laminitis etc.
Symptoms of Poisoning
Sudden lethargy or weakness
Colic or abdominal pain
Diarrhoea
Difficulty breathing
Rapid or irregular heart rate
Muscle tremors or seizures
Pale, blue, or jaundiced gums
Excessive drooling or foaming at the mouth
Uncoordinated movements
Immediate Actions
Stay Calm and Assess the Situation
Identify the substance ingested of you can, and estimate the amount. This isn’t possible if accumulated over time.
Prevent Further Exposure
Remove the horse from the source of poisoning.
Ensure other animals are kept away from the contaminated area.
Contact Your Veterinarian Immediately
Call your veterinarian or an emergency equine veterinary service for advice.
Provide detailed information about the substance and symptoms.
Do not try to induce vomiting
Horses cannot vomit, so this is not an option. This is why Grass Sickness requires nasogastric intubation to get rid of accumulated fluid in the stomach.
Activated Charcoal
If advised by a vet, you might administer activated charcoal to help absorb toxins in the gastrointestinal tract.
Monitor Vital Signs
Check and record the horse’s heart rate, respiration rate, and temperature. This information can be helpful for the vet.
Keep the Horse Calm and Comfortable
Minimize the horse's movement to prevent stress and injury.
Secure Any Evidence
Collect samples of the ingested substance, feed, or hay, and bring them to the veterinarian.
Transporting to the Vet
Safe Transport: Ensure the horse is safe to travel before loading into a trailer with minimal stress. Drive quickly but carefully to your veterinarian, bearing in mind that your horse may not be as good at keeping their balance as normal.
Provide Detailed Information: Bring any evidence of the toxin and information about the horse’s symptoms and any first aid administered.
Preventing Poisoning
Regularly inspect pastures, feed and hay: Check for toxic plants and monitor pastures for ergot-infected grasses and remove affected plants. Ergot appears as dark, hard, elongated bodies in place of the grain seeds.
Source Feed from Reputable Suppliers: Ensure that feed and forage come from suppliers who regularly test for contaminants. If you don’t know, phone them up and ask them! Speak to the company itself rather than your local rep who probably doesn’t really know.
Store Feed Properly: Keep grains and forage in dry, cool conditions to prevent damp conditions ideal for fungal growth.
Secure Storage of Chemicals: Keep pesticides, herbicides, and medications locked away and out of reach. Ask local farmers where there might be risk of spray drift to inform you in advance when they intend spraying their fields so you can minimise your horse’s exposure as much as possible.
Educate grooms: Ensure all individuals involved in the horse's care know what to look out for and can recognise the signs of suspect poisoning. This includes regularly checking for signs of mould in feeds and on bags and maintaining a dry and clean environment where forage and feeds are stored.
Summary
Knowing your animals’ normal behaviour is important for being able to know when things aren’t right. Some poisonings will be less obvious in the early stages, so keep a close eye if you notice unusual behaviour that might progress into something more obvious. It may not be a poisoning but early signs of other illness, such as colic in horses, or gastrointestinal upset in dogs/cats.
Where there is obviously something wrong, whether a poisoning or not, quick and informed action can significantly increase the likelihood of recovery from whatever is wrong. If in doubt always seek professional veterinary advice and assistance as soon as possible.
Veterinary Poisoning Helpline Resources
United Kingdom
Animal PoisonLine (by the VPIS - Veterinary Poisons Information Service)
Phone Number: +44 (0) 207 305 5055
Website: Animal PoisonLine
Note: Available 24/7. A consultation fee may apply.
Pet Poison Helpline (International Service)
Phone Number: +44 (0) 870 600 6266
Note: Available 24/7. A consultation fee may apply.
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC)
Phone Number: 1-888-426-4435
Website: ASPCA APCC
Note: Available 24/7. A consultation fee may apply.
Pet Poison Helpline
Phone Number: 1-855-764-7661
Note: Available 24/7. A consultation fee may apply.
Canada
Pet Poison Helpline
Phone Number: 1-855-764-7661
Note: Available 24/7. A consultation fee may apply.
Australia
Poisons Information Centre (Australian Government)
Phone Number: 13 11 26 (within Australia)
Note: Available 24/7. The service is primarily for human poisoning but can provide initial advice for pet poisoning cases.
Pet Poison Helpline (International Service)
Phone Number: +61 280 450 112
Note: Available 24/7. A consultation fee may apply.
International poisons website for all countries:
Website: Pet Poison Helpline
Great article. Most unusual poisoning I’ve come across - gin-soaked sloe berries gobbled up by an unsuspecting Labrador from the compost heap!
Thank you so very much for this article. I will sharing it far and wide in Northern Ireland.