Tuesday, March 25, 2014

ASPCA Top 10 Toxins that poison pets in 2013

toxins, pets, pet poison, pet poisoning

The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center located in Urbana, Illinois has release a report that they have received nearly 180,000 cases about household pets exposed to possibly poisonous substances in 2013. Prescription human medications is the top toxins in the list for 6 years in a row. About 20% of all the calls were about pets that ingest medicines for humans.

Here are the rest of the list: (ranked in order of call volume)

1. Prescription Human Medications - APCC received 24,673 cases about pets ingesting human prescription drugs in 2013.

The top 3 medications that pets are exposed to are: heart medications (blood pressure pills), antidepressants and pain medications (opioids and prescription non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Most of the cases are owners dropped the pills and the pets got it first.

2. Insecticides - (15.7% of all calls is related to insecticides) most of the cases are cat related. Insecticides should be properly stored away from pets or it should be in a cabinet or box that can't be access by pets.

3. Over-the-Counter Human Medications - (14.7% of calls) most commonly are medicines with acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen, herbal, and nutraceutical.

4. Household Products - Household toxins that pets have access to includes fire logs to cleaning products.

5. People Food - people foods that are toxic to pets are onions/garlic, grapes/raisins and xylitol (sugar substitute  that is harmful to animals).

6. Veterinary Products and Medications

7. Chocolate - do not give your pets Chocolate, too much of it can cause vomiting, diarrhea, high heart rate and seizures.

8. Rodenticides - this can cause your beloved pets internal bleeding, kidney failure or seizures.

9. Plants - my dog really loves to eat plants. Most plants are harmless to pets but there are those which can be toxic like lilies which can cause kidney failure and death in cats.

10. Lawn and Garden Products - Fertilizers usually made from dried blood, poultry manure and bone meal are very attractive to pets so make sure to keep them in a safe place.

source: http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/top-pet-toxins-2013

Other toxins that's dangerous to your pets are: Sago Palm (can lead to liver failure), Antifreeze (tasty to pets but is very harmful), and Yeast dough.

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