Pet Poisons - 10 Deadly Poisonous Food For Dogs and Cats to AVOID - Veterinarians Guide

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Pet Poisons - 10 Deadly Poisonous Food For Dogs and Cats to AVOID

Pet Poisons - 10 Poisonous Food For Dogs and Cats to AVOID

Did you know that too lots of food we love to eat is actually poisonous for dogs and cats ,they may even be deadly .So what snack should you never feed your dog and which foods are best locked away from your cat? 
 We often love to share our food with our pets but stop and think again : is this actually safe and which food should we avoid giving our cats and dogs?
 If your pet eats any of these things and the best thing to do is to get advice straight away from your local vet don't wait until they're developing problems because by then it could be too late better still avoid giving them to your pet in the first place don't leave them lying around and make sure they are stored away safely in cupboards .


So let's start the top ten list to poisonous food for cats and dogs :

1- Chocolate :

 The most common poisoning seen at the vet clinic but thankfully not the most dangerous.
 Chocolate, it is irresistible to us and also our pets who will often break into a cupboard or climb a shelf before consuming a whole box of chocolates .
Christmas and Easter are understandably the peak times for this to happen .
Now what happens next really depends on the size of your pet and the type of chocolate involved and it's fairly obvious that the larger the dog the more they have to eat to get sick but did you know that chocolate type also plays a huge role ,now this is because different types contain different amounts of the poisonous ingredient Thiobromide , generally the posher or more expensive the chocolate the worse the problem and chocolate for cooking is even worse,
 White chocolate contains tiny levels.
 Milk chocolate contains more and dark chocolate cooking chocolate and cocoa powder contain very large amounts of Thiobromide in comparison .
So clearly they're dangerous worse for our smaller dogs especially if they get into a dark chocolate.

Toxic dose :

 For a 5 kilo or 11 pound dog would only need to eat around 15 grams or half an ounce of dark chocolate to start suffering from signs of poisoning .

This is not very much if it was milk chocolate they they're only likely to start having problems after eating 60 grams or over two ounces .
A 30 kilo or 66 pound Labrador though would need to eat three hundred and sixty grams or twelve ounces of milk chocolate or 90 grams or a little over three ounces of dark chocolate before showing signs of poisoning.

 Signs of Chocolate toxicity :

Chocolate toxicity causes problems ranging from vomiting and diarrhea through to heart arrhythmia, bloating, tremor ,seizures and death .

Thankfully most dog owners are very aware of the dangers of chocolate and severe untreated poisoning is thankfully rare.

 In most cases a quick trip to the vet to make them sick is all that is required but if they ate the chocolate more than a few hours previously or they ate a very large amount above the toxic dose then they may need hospitalization for closer monitoring and treatment .
Cats are also affected but as they are unable to taste sweet things they don't tend to be too fussed by chocolate .

2- Grapes and Raisins :


  This is less clear-cut than chocolate for several reasons and the first is that no one knows exactly what it is in the grape that causes the problem the second is that not every animal is equally affected .
What we do know though is that eating grapes and raisins can cause irreversible kidney damage resulting in death .
We also know that there have been reports of some dogs eating only a small handful of grapes but still showing signs of poisoning .

Toxic Dose :
Using the lowest reported toxic dose for raisins and grapes :
A 10-pound or four and a half kilo dog can be poisoned by as little as 17 average-sized grapes or 11 raisins .
A forty pound or 18 kilo dog would therefore need to eat 68 grapes or 44 raisins .
But having said all that there are a reports of an 18 pound or just over 8 kilo dog dying after eating only 4 to 5 grapes and this is less than the supposed minimum toxic dose .
The bottom line is that we don't know how many grapes or raisins will kill a dog for some it may be a very small number while others may need to eat a much larger amount and be completely fine .
Cats again can also be affected but as with chocolate they tend to be more selective as to what they eat .

Signs of poising by Grapes and Raisins: 

- Vomiting and diarrhea.
- Pain .
- Weakness .
- Wobbliness.
- Inappetence .

 What should we do if we know our pet has eaten grapes ?

Some people may wait till appearance of clinical signs and their animal became off-food to go to vet at that point now the problem with this is that if the kidneys are damaged then this may be irreversible and treatment may not be able to save your pet .
Because the consequences are so severe, i would recommend a more risk adverse approach if your pet has eaten more than the lowest reported toxic dose then you should contact your vet straight away for advice if they have eaten less than this then there is still a highly valid argument that you should contact your vet straight away .

Prompt treatment is much more likely to be successful .

3- ONIONS ( Garlic , Leek+Chives):



 This one might surprise you but onions have the potential to be very poisonous to our dogs and cats .
They lack the enzyme to properly digest them which can lead to destruction of the body's red blood cells and in extreme cases this result in anemia may cause death .
Other members of the Allium family include garlic ,chives and leeks all of which can cause the same problem .

Toxic Dose :
It takes a lot to be eaten in a single setting to cause such severe problems .
 A 30 pound or 14 kilo dog need to eat 6-8 medium onions is enough to make them unwell .
For cats :
A 9 lb/4 kilo cat needs to eat 15-20 gm of onions to be toxic.

Garlic is 5 times is more poisonous although a single serving of anything with a sprinkle of garlic powder is unlikely to cause problems.
 Again a relatively large amount of still need to be eaten in a single sitting and the risk is relatively low so you might think that this means there's no cause for concern ,unfortunately these foods don't need to be eaten in one sitting , go repeated consumption of small amounts can cause exactly the same problem .
" Eating much smaller amounts regularly can still cause poisoning , It doesn't have to be eaten all at once "
Think about this for a minute if you're a garlic lover and regularly give your pet leftovers .

Something else to consider is those of you giving your pet a natural garlic based flea or worm remedy now not only do they not work they may be seriously harming your pet especially if they get hold of a relatively small amount of onion or leek to make matters worse .
Some medication can also make an animal more susceptible to the effects of onion ,garlic and leek .

Signs of toxicity with Onions : 
Signs of toxicity generally takes several days to occur and may include :

- Depression .
- Bloody urine .
- Pale or yellow gums .
- Rapid breathing .
- Lethargy .
- Abdominal pain .
- Vomiting and diarrhea . 
By the time you see these signs then your pet will already have had a significant number of their red blood cells destroyed .

An intensive treatment will be needed if treatments not given then death is a very real risk .

4- Xylitol Poisoning: 



 You may not have even heard of xylitol but it is used as a sugar-free sweetener and it's next on our list of poisonous food for dogs and cats.
 It's found in a large range of products not just sugar-free gum and it's becoming more common .
xylitol can be found in anything from sugar-free baking, ice creams and yogurts ,sugar-free sweet ,gum ,chocolate some peanut butters, honeys ,artificial sweeteners, various sugar-free condiments as well as sauces and protein bars and powders.

Now that's a lot of food that have the potential to be incredibly toxic now to make matters worse .
xylitol is also found in some skincare creams and cosmetics in toothpaste and mouthwash and human medications and supplements and it may even be present in some active wear clothing .
xylitol may not even be on the list of ingredients the ingredients may instead say sugar alcohol of which xylitol is just one possibility.
 Anything labeled sugar-free natural sweeteners or no added sugars should have the ingredients double-checked .

So what does it do ?
Well first up it's dogs who are much more sensitive to it than cats although there have been some reports of cats showing toxic effects to xylitol poisons .
Poisoning to dogs by very rapidly dropping their blood sugar levels this is often within 15 to 90 minutes of ingestion although it can take about 18 hours depending exactly on what was eaten its effects then lasts for around 24 hours or longer .
Xylitol eaten even higher doses can also cause irreversible liver damage .If an animal eats enough and then lives for long enough as very low blood sugar levels can lead to coma and death so they may die before liver damage occurs .

Initial signs due to toxicity are due to low blood sugar which includes :
- Weakness .
- lethargy in coordination and vomiting.
 - Increased breathing rate .
- Seizures .
-Collapse .
- Coma and death .
- If liver failure occurs later then jaundice, vomiting, diarrhea and inapetence are just some things that may be seen .

Toxic dose of Xylitol :
Only a very small amount a sixty pound or 27 kilogram retriever would only need to eat a tiny two to three grams to cause a drop in blood sugar levels and ten to fifteen grams to cause liver failure , now that's not much when you might have a cups to make a cake there can be up to one and a half gram in a single piece of gum which is enough to poison a 20 kilogram or 44 pound dog and 22 grams of xylitol containing peanut butter may be more than enough to poison a 10 pound or four and a half kilo dog for dogs this is really poisonous stuff the risk is very real .
If there is any chance that your dog has eaten something containing xylitol ,take them straight to your vet because it works so quickly .
Any delay could be deadly .

5- Maccadamia Nuts :



Macadamia nuts make a very poisonous food for dogs list in reality they're not nearly as bad as the other food items discussed here .
like grapes.

Signs of Maccadamia Nuts poisoning : 
 Like grapes the mechanism of toxicity is not well understood but when enough is eaten which is about two and a half grams per kilo bodyweight then a non fatal syndrome occurs this is characterized by :
- Vomiting.
- in-coordination .
- weakness .
- raised body temperature and depression .
- severely affected dogs may need supportive care to prevent other problems from developing but so long as no other complications occur even when dogs again and over eight times this toxic dose they all recovered within 48 hours .

6- Bread - Dough :


 If you are a home baker than this one is for you .
Bread dough left to rise is a tempting snack for your pet and when eaten the warm stomach is an ideal environment for yeast to get to work making the dough rapidly increase in size now this stretches the stomach which can block its blood supply causing the stomach to twist or even result in significant breathing difficulties to make matters worse the yeast will also start to ferment and produce alcohol which causes even more problems such as depression, weakness ,disorientation ,low body temperature and even death .
Of course it can be treated but far better avoid the problem in the first place .



7- Moldy Food + Compost : 


Now you might think that our pets should be able to eat most things that have gone off just a little bit but there are some real risks to them if they get hold of the rubbish bin or composting waste now one of these is poisoning due to mold.
 Molds actually produce a toxin that can start acting with only a couple of hours of being eaten and of course nervous impairment.

signs of mold toxicity :
 Common initial signs include :
- wobbliness .
- in-coordination .
- muscle tremors .
- a high temperature .
- vomiting and excessive salivation .
- can progress to full seizures and fitting and this can even lead to death .

With appropriate treatment though thankfully most dogs recover within 24 to 48 hours uneventfully although some may take a little bit longer until they're completely back to normal 
As with a lot on this list it is normally dogs rather than discerning cats that suffer from mold poisoning though they can still be affected .

8- Corn Cob : 



This is another item that you'll hopefully not be feeding your dog on purpose "Corn cobs ".
While this is not a poison as such it can have deadly results and so it's a worthy addition to this list of dangerous foods and the risk is actually not due to the corn itself but rather the central cob .
This is a size that can be swallowed but it doesn't get broken down in the stomach and instead the corn cob passes into the small intestine where there is a significant risk of it getting stuck and forming a complete obstruction .
If this happens then prompt surgery is the only course of action to save a pet to make matters worse those fact that a corncob is actually very difficult to see on x-ray and this means then an obstruction may well only be diagnosed much later than say a bone or a stone causing a similar blockage and as a result the surgery can take longer and be a little bit more risky .

9- Bones :


Cooked bones being the worst type ,it's true that lots of dogs may regularly enjoy a bone without any problems others will get nothing worse than a serious case of food poisoning.

Complications of bone swallowing  :
A painful fracture in teeth.
A piece of bone trapped across the roof of dog mouth.
- A severe constipation due to the build-up of sharp bone shards that can only be cleared with an enema under an anesthetic.
An intestinal obstruction that then develops a hole and they die from septic peritonitis. 

Oh wait ,,,, those are actually all really bad things and yes death is on the list it happens. 
Cooked bones are worse because they tend to be more brittle and so splinter into sharp pointed fragments .
Raw bones they cause the same problems especially large weight-bearing bones from cows and sheep .
Large chunks can be swallowed and the large grinding molars can be broken.

10 - Coffee:



Finally we have coffee or more specifically caffeine this can pose a real risk to our dogs and cats caffeine is of course not just found in coffee but also energy drinks .caffeine pills and tea and while caffeine may be fine for us in moderation our pets are much more sensitive to it with them suffering from hyperactivity, restlessness, vomiting and a racing heart rate this can progress to abnormal heart rhythm, tremors ,seizure and of course death.

 But how much do they have to get hold up to cause problems ?

Of course, this depends on the size of our cat or dog as well as the type of coffee .
If a pet eats unused coffee grounds then a 10 pound or four and a half kilo cat or dog would only need to potentially to run two tablespoons of a strong variety to be toxic for a weaker variety this amount could increase to about five tablespoons.
 It's still not a huge amount use grounds obviously have a lot less caffeine and so the toxic amount would be anywhere between about seven and a half to eighteen tablespoons for our 10-pound pet .
As we're talking about caffeine a typical caffeine tablet contains 200 milligrams of caffeine and it would only take three and a half to be toxic to our four and a half kilo or 10-pound pet . So imagine if they broke into a small pack of 50 tablets that's enough to be toxic to a 65 kilogram or 150 pound dog .
okay so that's our top 10 potentially deadly poisonous food for dogs and cats but as promised here is our bonus number 11 now this is a group that includes salt ,washing soda crystals, hydrogen peroxide and anything else you may have found on the internet that may make your dog vomit but why include these ??
Well these are all stay-at-home methods that have been used to make our pets from it but serious harm can be done.
 Too much salt in itself is a severe poison and does not reliably cause vomiting .
Washing soda is often confused with caustic soda with fatal consequences .
Too strong a preparation of hydrogen peroxide can severely erode and burn a pets intestine.
 There are also plenty of things that our pets may have eaten where we actually don't want them to vomit these include caustic substances ,petrochemicals or hydrocarbons or sharp foreign bodies like bone shards if a cat or dog has certain conditions - then vomiting is generally considered too dangerous due to a risk of them breathing in the vomit into their lungs which again can be deadly .
These conditions might include laryngeal paralysis, reduced consciousness and nervous problems such as tremors or seizures there is also no point in making a dog or cat vomit if it's over two to four hours since they ate the toxic substance or if they have already vomited so what is safe to use?
 Well cats are very difficult to make sick and I'd strongly recommend that any cat be taken straight to the vet rather than mess around with home remedies that are less likely to work .
In dogs 3% hydrogen peroxide can be given at a dose of 1 teaspoon per 10 pound or four and a half kilo body-weight up to a maximum of about be repeated after 15 minutes if this still doesn't work and do not give more.
 Your pet needs to go to the vet and having said this using this method at home is much less reliable than your vet .
Administering the prescription drug apomorphine , so my advice would always be to contact your vet straight away and follow their advice .

Finally if you use hydrogen peroxide and it doesn't work then you've delayed your dog's treatment by at least 30 minutes which may be critical it's also worth considering that even though your pet may look like they have vomited everything in fact only about half of their stomach contents may have been expelled and so additional treatment may still be required .
So I hope this video helps to prevent your pet getting poisoned in the future prevention is always better than cure remember if you have any concerns about something your dog or your cat has eaten your vet should always be the first person you call don't leave comments on forums don't ask questions here call your vet having said that if you do have any questions comments or ideas for future videos and please comment below I'd love to hear from you also consider hitting the thumbs up and subscribe buttons to make sure you don't miss out on any future content and allow me to continue to help you and your pet live healthier happier lives OurPetsHealth.com because they're family

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