Suspect poisoning? US: ASPCA Poison Control (888) 426-4435 · UK: 01202 509 000 · Severe symptoms → nearest emergency vet now.

Poisoning questions, answered

Every question has a direct answer, a symptom checklist and clear next steps — plus a matching tool that estimates the real risk.

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The four most-used triage calculators:

chocolate · open tool My dog ate dark chocolate — how much is dangerous? grapes & raisins · open tool My dog ate one grape. Should I panic? xylitol · open tool Dog ate sugar-free gum with xylitol — emergency? lily · open tool Cat licked a lily petal — is that fatal?

Full answer library

All pets Dogs Cats

Dogs · Food safety My 6 kg Dachshund on heart medication just swallowed a whole rambutan including the skin and seed — what should I do first? Do not induce vomiting. The spiky skin and hard seed can scratch the esophagus on the way back up, and her… Cats · Food safety My 4 kg cat knocked over a bowl of plain cooked scallops that sat on the counter overnight — is it safe to let her eat them? No — seafood left out overnight has been in the bacterial growth zone for far too long, even if it was plain… Dogs · Emergency guide My 12 kg dog ate moldy scraps from the compost bin 6 hours ago and the vet gave activated charcoal — what should I watch for at home over the next 48 hours? Watch closely for tremors, muscle twitching, or any sign of a seizure — these can start hours after ingestion… Cats · Emergency guide My pregnant 5 kg cat ate a one-inch piece of corn cob — does pregnancy make surgery for a blockage riskier for her and the kittens? Yes, anesthesia and surgery carry extra risks for a pregnant cat and can potentially harm the developing… Cats · Food safety Can my 4 kg senior cat with early kidney disease have a tiny pinch of ground cardamom in her food once a week? Yes, a tiny pinch once a week is safe. Cardamom itself is not toxic to cats, and the amounts used in cooking… Dogs · Food safety What happens if my 20 kg dog eats a few raw elderberries from the garden every day for several weeks? Repeated small doses can lead to chronic cyanide poisoning, damaging the nervous system over time. Your dog… Cats · Food safety Are freeze-dried cat treats that contain 'organic mulberry' safe for my 3 kg indoor cat to have as a daily snack? Yes, as long as the treats use ripe mulberries and your cat only gets one or two small pieces a day. Ripe… Cats · Emergency guide My 4kg indoor cat licked a smear of drain cleaner that spilled on the holiday buffet table 15 minutes before guests arrived — what should I watch for? Call your vet or the ASPCA poison control line right now. The caustic drain cleaner will burn the mouth the… Cats · Emergency guide My 4 kg cat licked a cane toad yesterday and now has diarrhoea — is this from the toxin or just a sensitive stomach? No, diarrhoea is not a typical sign of cane toad poisoning — it suggests your cat licked a less toxic toad or… Dogs · Food safety Are commercial dog treats that list 'quince puree' in the ingredients safe for my 8 kg small breed dog? They are likely safe, as commercial treats should use cooked, seedless quince puree. The cooked flesh is fine… Cats · Food safety My 5 kg cat just ate a few bites of beef stew that was heavily seasoned with garlic powder — how urgent is this? This is urgent. Garlic powder is concentrated, so even the amount coating a few bites of stew can be enough… Dogs · Emergency guide My 5 kg dog swallowed a cooked chicken bone fragment — is this urgent? Yes, this is urgent. A small dog can be seriously injured by a bone fragment. Call your vet immediately.… Cats · Emergency guide My 4 kg cat bit a foxglove leaf from a bouquet this morning and is now vomiting — how long after eating does foxglove poisoning show up? Foxglove signs can appear within 30 minutes to a few hours. Vomiting is often the first sign, followed by… Dogs · Emergency guide My 8 kg dog just dug up and ate a whole lily of the valley plant from a pot — what are the concrete steps I need to take in the next hour? This is an emergency. First, call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at 888-426-4435 right… Dogs · Emergency guide My 15 kg dog keeps sneaking into the garden to eat raw potato plant leaves every day for a week — what long-term damage could this cause? Repeated ingestion is very dangerous. Solanine builds up and each small dose adds to the last, damaging the… Dogs · Emergency guide My 25 kg dog got into an old, clumpy bag of ice melt that was left in the garage for two winters — is aged de-icing salt still toxic if he licked it? Yes, it is just as toxic. Clumping means moisture got in, but the sodium chloride or calcium chloride inside… Cats · Food safety My 3 kg cat ate a bite of chocolate cake with frosting 4 hours ago and hasn't vomited yet — when should I start to worry about poisoning signs? Watch closely for the next 12 hours. Theobromine from chocolate is absorbed slowly, so signs like vomiting… Cats · Toxicity calculator My 6 kg cat with chronic kidney disease chewed half a low-dose aspirin tablet — is this dangerous? Yes, this is dangerous. Cats already have compromised kidneys, and aspirin adds further stress to an organ… Dogs · Emergency guide My 5 kg Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with heart disease ate a wilted foxglove leaf an hour ago and is now wobbling — what should I do first? This is an emergency — go to the vet now. Foxglove contains digitoxin and digoxin, which slow the heart's… Dogs · Emergency guide My 4 kg Shih Tzu chewed lily leaves from a flower vase 20 minutes ago and is now drooling and pawing at his mouth — what's the first thing I should do? Remove any remaining leaves from his mouth gently — don't poke, just coax them out. Then call your vet or the… Dogs · Emergency guide My 8 kg Jack Russell drank a full bowl of standing water immediately after running in the park for an hour — could this cause water intoxication? Yes, it can. Drinking a large volume of plain water very quickly dilutes blood sodium, and water shifts into… Cats · Emergency guide My 12-week-old, 2 kg kitten nibbled a fresh foxglove leaf this morning — what should I do right now? This is an emergency — take her to the vet immediately. A 2 kg kitten has almost no margin for error; even… Cats · Food safety My 12-year-old cat accidentally ate a piece of raw salmon sushi from my plate — is the cooked version safer or is there another risk? Cooked salmon is safe for cats; raw salmon carries a parasite that causes salmon poisoning disease, which can… Dogs · Food safety My 10 kg dog with kidney disease got into a bowl of pitted apricot pieces — is the flesh safe for a dog with his condition? The flesh is safe in small amounts, but kidney disease changes the calculus. Apricots contain natural sugars… Dogs · Toxicity calculator My 12 kg dog just licked a tablespoon of over-the-counter cold syrup that contains acetaminophen — is this dangerous? Yes, it is dangerous. Many liquid cold remedies for humans contain acetaminophen, and the sweet flavor makes… Dogs · Emergency guide My 25 kg pregnant dog in her 7th week licked a small smear of Voltaren gel off my wrist — should I worry about her and the puppies? Yes, you should worry and call your vet now. The NSAIDs in topical creams like diclofenac are absorbed… Dogs · Toxicity calculator My 10 kg dog ate three macadamia nuts at lunch — when should I expect to see weakness or wobbliness in his hind legs? Watch for signs within the next 12 hours. The classic wobbliness, weakness, and sometimes a low-grade fever… Cats · Emergency guide My 3.5 kg cat swallowed a piece of a ciprofloxacin pill — how soon could permanent blindness or vision loss occur? Vision changes can develop within hours, and the damage is often irreversible. Cats are uniquely sensitive to… Dogs · Emergency guide My 22 kg dog ate about half of a green bromethalin rat bait block — is this amount definitely lethal without treatment? Yes, half a bait block is a potentially lethal dose and requires immediate emergency care. Bromethalin is… Dogs · Food safety My 8 kg dog licked a few drops of pure clove essential oil that spilled from a diffuser — should I induce vomiting? No, do not induce vomiting. The concentrated eugenol in clove oil is very irritating and can cause more…

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