Canine Toxins

Toxic Plants

Spring and fall takes many of us to the local flower marts to buy plants for our gardens. We see a beautiful plant and know the perfect spot for planting. It is after our dog or cat gets sick that the toxicity of the plant is learned. Sometimes luck is with our pet and only a minor toxicity occurs. Many times though, death is the end result. A puppy playing with daffodil or tulip bulbs, decorative Oleander, Deadly Nightshade, even the increased nitrogen caused by a resurgence of growth in the dormant grass could be deadly. Before buying one should always check to see if the plant or parts of the plant are toxic.

The Internet is a wonderful tool for identifying toxic plants. Doing a Google search will give you over two million sites. Some sites may deal with a specific habitat, plant family, toxin group, indoor plants, etc. What you want to find is a site that lists the most common plants used in the garden, in the house and in the field and woods in your area. The University of Illinois Veterinary Medicine Library web site has a Plants Toxic to Animals database where you can look up a plant by either the common or scientific name. Additional sources include Cornell University, SPCA Animal Poison Control Center (very user friendly, and the Texas A&M website, which provides a chart that lists toxic plants, including the common name, the toxic part of the plant, and the symptoms.

Toxic Foods

alcoholic beverages, avocados (leaves, seeds, skin, stem), chocolate, coffee, cola drinks, hops (used in home beer brewing), macadamia nuts, moldy foods, onions, onion powder, potato (leaves, stems, sprouted potatoes, other green parts), rhubarb leaves, salt, tea, tomato (leaves, stems, other green parts), walnuts, yeast dough

Chocolate

Theobromine is the chemical in chocolate that is toxic to dogs. Concentration of theobromine varies with the formulation of the chocolate.

• Milk chocolate has 44mg/oz (154mg/100gm)
• Semisweet chocolate has 150 mg/oz (528mg/100gm)
• Baking chocolate 390mg/oz (1365 mg/100gm)

Cookies, candies with chocolate coating and ice cream contain small amounts of chocolate and usually isn’t harmful to dogs. Solid milk chocolate and bittersweet chocolate bars can be toxic, especially to smaller dogs. It is important for children to know that they should not share their chocolate candy with their dog.

Lethal Dose of Chocolate by Dog's Weight
Dog's Weight	Lethal Dose of Theobromide	Milk Chocolate	Unsweetened Chocolate
5 lbs	200 mg	4 oz	0.5 oz
10 lbs	400 mg	8 oz	1 oz
20 lbs	900 mg	1 lb	2.5 oz
30 lbs	1300 mg	2 lbs	3.25 oz
40 lbs	1800 mg	2.5 lbs	4.5 oz
50 lbs	2250 mg	3 lbs	5.5 oz
60 lbs	2700 mg	4 lbs	7 oz
70 lbs	3400 mg	5 lbs	8.5 oz

Toxic Household Cleaners, Chemicals and Common Articles

The way to think of what is toxic to a dog is the same as a child. If you wouldn’t want your child to eat it then keep it out of reach of your dog. If you use a tank insert toilet bowl cleaner be sure to keep the lid down. Clean up spills of any chemical or household cleaner. Dogs commonly lick their feet, which can cause ingestion and/or mouth burns.

Common articles that are toxic are mothballs, pennies, cosmetics, perfumes, potpourri, lead fishing weight, medications even OTC’s. Plug-in air fresheners can be removed by a curious pet and ingested.

Toxic Yard and Garden Products

Fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides are used routinely on lawns and gardens. You may not use them in your yard but some your neighbors or park district probably do. Professional lawn services are required to post signs when they treat an area. Neighbors generally do not. Ask your neighbor to alert you if they are treating their lawn or garden. Your pets should be kept indoors during application and not be let out until the application would be dry. Inhaling the fumes can cause toxicity.
Rodenticides although not a yard or garden product are sometimes placed around houses, sheds and garages. Many mouse/rat poisons use an anti-coagulant. It interferes with Vitamin K prevents blood from clotting and internal bleeding. Others use toxins that cause neurological damage. It can sometimes take 3-5 days to see signs of poisoning.

Toxic Automobile Products

As with household cleaners, any product used for cleaning can cause toxicity, but the number one automobile product that kills is anti-freeze, ethylene gylcol. It takes only about 1/2 teaspoon per pound for a dog to get a toxic dose of ethylene glycol. Although the poison affects both the animal's neurological and kidney function, the most severe damage usually involves the kidneys. All spills or leaks from cars must be cleaned up immediately

There is currently a new product on the market (one trade name is "Sierra") which claims to be safer than other brands of antifreeze. This product contains propylene glycol as its active ingredient. If ingested, it can still cause the nervous system injury resulting in incoordination and possibly seizures but does not cause the more frequently fatal kidney damage.

Preventing Dog Poisoning

The Canine Epilepsy Resource Center’s web site provides in depth information on dog poisons, including a list of 10 Tips for Preventing Poisoning.

Emergency Pet Poison First Aid Kit

You may benefit by keeping a pet safety kit and other items on hand for emergencies. Such a kit should contain:

• A fresh bottle of hydrogen peroxide 3% (USP) – 1 tablespoon per 10 lbs. body weight
• Milk
• Vinegar or lemon juice – 3 teaspoon diluted with equal parts of water
• Milk of Magnesia – 1 teaspoon per 5 pounds body weight
• Charcoal
• Can of soft dog food
• Turkey baster, bulb syringe or large medicine syringe
• Saline eye solution to flush out eye contaminates
• Artificial tear gel to lubricate eyes after flushing
• Mild grease-cutting dishwashing liquid in order to bathe an animal after skin contamination
• Rubber gloves to prevent you from being exposed while you bathe the animal
• Forceps to remove stingers
• Muzzle to keep the animal from hurting you while it is excited or in pain
• Pet carrier to help carry the animal to your local veterinarian

Signs of Toxicity or Poisoning

1. Pawing at the ears (indicates a ringing sound), eyes, or mouth. Watering eyes and/or nose. Increased thirst and salivation frequent swallowing. Dry mouth, numbness of tissues or pale tissues, dilated pupils, blurred vision (bumping into objects).
2. Breathing: difficult or labored; change in respiration rate such as reduced, rapid, irregular, shallow or very deep.
3. Temperature: sudden variations either high, low or irregular
4. Heart: weak or irregular beat: rapid or slow; fleeting pulse
5. Digestive: diarrhea (usually foul smelling), foul breath odor, vomits, pain on defecation or palpation. Cramps, constipation, blood in feces or vomitus.
6. Nervous system: shivering, unusual and uncoordinated movements, shock, coma, paralysis, convulsions.
7. Urinary tract: increased urination, blood in urine, increased or reduced volume, pain or urination.
8. Blood: A sample may be drawn to see if there or any irregularities in the blood chemistries and/or the complete blood count (CBC)

What to Do if Your Dog is Poisoned

• If you know what your dog ingested (it should be listed on the container), take it with you to the vet.
• Call to inform your vet that you will be bringing your dog in. He may want to contact the poison center for more information.
• Bring with you anything your dog has vomited or chewed in a zip-lock bag. This is especially important if you do not know what poison was ingested.

Before leaving for the vet it may be necessary to begin treatment at home.

• To purge the poison you induce vomiting. Hydrogen Peroxide 3% is used. Never use syrup of Ipecac which can be toxic to pets.
• Never induce vomiting if a caustic substance was swallowed. Caustic poisons need to be neutralized.
• If an acidic poison (like bleach) has been ingested, Milk of Magnesia can be given or activated charcoal.
• If an alkaline poison has been ingested, vinegar or lemon juice is needed.
• Sometimes you can dilute the poison by giving your dog milk to drink.
• If the toxin is on the coat give your dog a bath and rinse him for 10 minutes before going to the vet.

For more details go to the Canine Epilepsy Resource Center’s web site.

Poison Control Emergency Numbers

• National Animal Poison Control Center (NAPCC) a non-profit service of the University of Illinois
• NAPCC has three telephone numbers for easy access. Help is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
• (900) 680-0000 costs $20 for the first five minutes and $2.95 for each additional minute billed to your telephone.
• (800) 548-2423 and (888) ANI-HELP [(888) 426-4435 - These are credit- card-only numbers for $30 per case. (Only Master Card, Visa, American Express, and Discover cards are accepted.)

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