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

Poisoning questions, answered

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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

Cats · Food safety Only one of my three 5 kg cats ate a few bites of plain cooked crab meat — how do I handle the others and monitor the eater? Plain cooked crab is safe, so the main job is checking the eater for any shell fragments she might have… Dogs · Toxicity calculator My 8 kg dog with a known heart murmur just ate a tablespoon of wet espresso grounds from the sink. Does his heart condition make this more dangerous? Yes, a heart condition significantly raises the risk. Caffeine forces the heart to work harder and faster… Dogs · Emergency guide My 12 kg dog ate a bowl of commercial raw dog food that contained visible bone fragments. Is the raw meat or the bone the bigger risk? Both risks are serious and immediate. The raw meat can carry Salmonella or E. coli, causing bloody diarrhoea… Cats · Emergency guide My 4 kg cat ate half a 0.25 mg alprazolam pill, not a sertraline. Which medication is more dangerous for a cat, and what's the difference in signs? Both are dangerous, but they act differently. Alprazolam, a benzodiazepine, often causes paradoxical… Dogs · Food safety My 7 kg dog swallowed a whole plum pit 4 hours ago, and the vet induced vomiting but it didn't come up. What happens now in aftercare and monitoring? The pit is now a foreign body risk in his intestines. Your vet will likely recommend an X-ray to see where it… Cats · Food safety My 3 kg cat ate a tablespoon of plain cooked turnip. Does her small size mean even this safe vegetable could cause a blockage? No, a tablespoon of cooked, mashed turnip is very unlikely to cause a blockage in a cat of any size. The real… Cats · Emergency guide My 5 kg cat might have eaten a 5-HTP capsule that fell from a guest's purse during our BBQ — what's the risk at a party? High risk. Parties mean dropped pills, open purses, and guests who don't know the danger. 5-HTP can cause… Cats · Emergency guide My 5 kg cat is a counter-surfer — how do I stop her getting into my daily levothyroxine pills? You need a strict system because levothyroxine is highly toxic to cats. Even a few 25 µg tablets can cause… Cats · Food safety My 5 kg cat drank a tablespoon of white vinegar 3 hours ago and vomited once — how long should I monitor her? Monitor her closely for the next 24 hours. Vinegar is acidic and irritating, so a single bout of vomiting is… Cats · Food safety My 2 kg, 12-week-old kitten ate a teaspoon of cooked plain spaghetti squash — is this safe for her tiny stomach? Yes, a teaspoon of plain cooked spaghetti squash is safe for a kitten. It's low in calories and easy to… Dogs · Toxicity calculator I've been giving my 8 kg dog one macadamia nut as a daily treat for two weeks — could this cause ongoing weakness or other issues? Yes, stop immediately. While a single nut might only cause temporary wobbliness, daily feeding increases the… Dogs · Food safety My 18 kg dog ate a scoop of mulberry pie filling that fell off the dessert table — is the cooked fruit and sugar safe? Ripe mulberries themselves are safe, but the pie filling is the problem. The high sugar content can cause… Cats · Emergency guide My 4 kg cat just ate an extra beef-flavored heartworm pill 20 minutes ago and seems wobbly — what's my first step? Call your vet or the ASPCA poison line at 888-426-4435 immediately. Wobbliness means the drug is already… Dogs · Emergency guide My 10 kg terrier ate a cooked chicken bone while my other two dogs didn't — what should I do for all three now? Call your vet now for the terrier — cooked bones splinter and can tear his gut. Keep him calm and do not give… Dogs · Emergency guide My 25 kg dog drank from a scummy pond yesterday — what signs of blue-green algae poisoning should I watch for and when do they start? Watch for vomiting, diarrhea, and drooling within minutes to a few hours. Neurological signs like muscle… Dogs · Emergency guide My 15 kg dog ate several 100 mcg levothyroxine tablets yesterday and the vet treated him — what monitoring and tests happen now? Your vet will likely monitor his heart rate and rhythm for at least 24 hours, as thyroid overdose can cause… Cats · Emergency guide Could my 3 kg indoor cat be exposed to lily of the valley from everyday items like potpourri or herbal teas? Yes, dried lily of the valley is sometimes found in potpourri mixes, sachets, or decorative dried flower… Cats · Food safety What happens if my 4 kg cat nibbles green potato peel from the compost bin every few days for weeks? Repeated small doses of solanine from green potato skin can build up and cause chronic poisoning. Over weeks… Cats · Emergency guide My 4 kg cat just licked ear cleaning solution off her fur and is now drooling — what do I do in the next 30 minutes? Act now. Rinse her mouth gently with lukewarm water if she'll let you, using a syringe or a soaked cloth. The… Cats · Emergency guide My 3.5 kg cat licked diluted laundry detergent off her paw after I cleaned the floor — is the diluted form safer than straight from the bottle? No, diluted detergent is still dangerous. The surfactants that cause pain and inflammation are active even… Cats · Emergency guide My 4 kg cat ate several calming chews that list 'petroleum distillates' in the inactive ingredients — is that safe for her small size? No, it is not safe. Petroleum distillates, even as inactive ingredients, are thin, volatile chemicals that… Dogs · Toxicity calculator My 8 kg dog ate about ten moldy raisins that were left on the counter for a week — does the mold make the poisoning worse? Yes, the mold adds another layer of danger. The raisins themselves are toxic and can cause acute kidney… Cats · Food safety My 4 kg cat ate one whole large chunk of fresh pineapple core and skin — is that too much pineapple for her size? Yes, that's too much, and the core and skin add risk. The spiky skin is rough and can irritate her mouth and… Dogs · Food safety My 10 kg dog snatched a slice of seeded rye bread with butter from the holiday buffet table — is that safe or a problem? The plain rye in the bread is safe, but the butter and seeds are the real concern. The high fat from butter… Dogs · Emergency guide My 12 kg dog chewed a whole aloe vera leaf — is it worse for him than if he ate a piece of Christmas cactus? Yes, aloe is far more dangerous. A Christmas cactus might cause mild drooling or vomiting, but the yellow… Dogs · Emergency guide My 8 kg beagle ate two cooked mistletoe berries from a holiday pudding — does cooking make the berries safer for dogs? No, cooking does not destroy the toxins. Mistletoe berries contain viscumin and phoratoxin, which irritate… Cats · Emergency guide Can chewing a snake plant leaf cause an allergic skin reaction or just vomiting in my 3 kg cat? It almost always causes vomiting and oral burning, not a skin allergy. The saponins in the leaf are direct… Cats · Emergency guide How do I stop my 4 kg cat from scavenging greasy corn cobs left on the patio after a summer BBQ? Clean up immediately and use a lidded bin. Cats are attracted to the leftover butter and meat juices, and… Dogs · Food safety Which common human snacks secretly contain bacon that could harm my 6 kg dog with a sensitive stomach? Check labels on flavoured crackers, seasoned nuts, and many frozen meals — 'bacon bits', 'smoked flavour', or… Cats · Food safety Can a handful of fresh blackcurrants give my 4 kg cat diarrhoea or an itchy skin reaction, even though they're safe? Yes, the sugar and fibre in a handful can absolutely cause loose stools or gas. True allergy with itchy skin…

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