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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
Dogs · Emergency guide My 8 kg terrier chewed on a tulip bulb from my garden flower bed — are any commercial dog dental chews or treats containing tulip extract safe for him to buy? No. Tulipalin A and soluble oxalates in tulip bulbs cause corrosive burns in the mouth and can trigger acute… Dogs · Food safety My 7 kg pregnant dachshund is 6 weeks along — is it safe to give her washed romaine lettuce leaves as an occasional snack during the rest of her pregnancy? Yes, plain washed lettuce is safe for a pregnant dog in moderation. Romaine is mostly water and provides… Dogs · Emergency guide My 10 kg dog chewed open a vape refill bottle an hour ago and won't stop coughing — is this just irritation or pneumonia? This is an emergency. Vape liquids contain petroleum distillates and propylene glycol — both are thin… Cats · Emergency guide I found dried pear seeds mixed into a bag of my cat's hairball chews — could a few seeds kill my 4 kg indoor cat? It depends on whether those seeds were crushed before your cat ate them. Whole seeds pass through mostly… Cats · Emergency guide My 3 kg cat licked a dime-sized smear of diclofenac pain cream off my forearm yesterday afternoon — will she be okay? No. Diclofenac is an NSAID that causes acute kidney failure in cats even at tiny doses — a smear licked off… Dogs · Toxicity calculator My 8 kg terrier with a sensitive stomach is due for his low-dose aspirin tablet — should I still give it, or could that be harmful? A sensitive stomach is exactly why you should be careful with aspirin. Even low-dose tablets can ulcerate the… Cats · Emergency guide My 3.5 kg cat ate a mouthful of green potato leaves this morning and now has diarrhea — is this solanine poisoning or just a stomach bug? This needs to be treated as possible solanine poisoning until a vet rules it out. Green potato leaves contain… Cats · Food safety My 5 kg cat licked the remnants of my carbonara pasta — it had a handful of pine nuts mixed in — is this dangerous? Pine nuts themselves aren't acutely toxic to cats, but they're very high in fat, and your cat isn't built to… Dogs · Food safety My 10-week-old beagle puppy, 2 kg, just swiped a bite of cooked plain lotus root off the coffee table — should I be worried? No need to worry. Cooked plain lotus root is safe for puppies — it's non-toxic and easy to digest when fully… Dogs · Emergency guide How long after my 4 kg dog swallows half an enalapril pill do the first shock symptoms appear? Signs can start within 30 to 60 minutes, but in severe cases they may hit much faster — some dogs are… Cats · Emergency guide My 3 kg cat swallowed a button battery but my two other cats did not — should I still worry about them or just focus on her? Focus entirely on your 3 kg cat right now — a button battery is a race against tissue damage that starts… Cats · Emergency guide My 4 kg indoor cat licked one castor bean from the garden — she did not chew it — is this still an emergency? Yes, it is still an emergency, and here is why: if she even cracked the seed coat with her teeth during that… Cats · Emergency guide In my two-cat household, my 4 kg cat ate raw egg white daily while my 2.5 kg cat never touched it — will the first cat develop biotin deficiency sooner? Yes — the cat eating raw egg white every day is the one at real risk, and biotin deficiency does not show up… Dogs · Food safety My 10 kg dog found and ate a handful of almonds left out for three days that now smell rancid — should I watch for stomach upset or just let it pass? Watch closely for the next 24 hours. Rancid almonds contain oxidized fats that can irritate the gut and… Cats · Emergency guide My 1.5 kg, 14-week-old kitten licked residue from a liquid diphenhydramine bottle cap — is one lick dangerous? Yes — with a kitten that small, even residue from a bottle cap can deliver a meaningful dose of the active… Cats · Emergency guide My 4 kg cat chewed tomato stems and green leaves at a backyard BBQ — what part is poisonous and what do I do? The green parts — stems, leaves, and sprouts — are where solanine concentrates, and that is what poisoned… Dogs · Food safety My 25 kg dog scraped chives out of a pasta sauce bowl at the dinner table — is the cooked chive still dangerous? Yes, cooking does not neutralise the allium compounds that damage red blood cells. Even in a sauce, chives… Dogs · Food safety My 15 kg dog just ate a cup of cantaloupe including the rind — is there anything I need to do right now? Nothing urgent — cantaloupe is safe for dogs, even the rind, though the tough outer skin can be hard to… Dogs · Food safety I have been feeding chopped raw bok choy to my 35 kg Labrador every day for two months — is that safe long-term? It is generally safe, but daily feeding of any single green in that quantity can throw off the nutrient… Cats · Food safety My 3 kg senior cat ate six apple seeds an hour ago — what signs should I watch for and when would they appear? Apple seeds contain cyanide-producing compounds, and six seeds is enough to warrant observation in a cat that… Cats · Emergency guide My 6 kg indoor cat has been chewing oleander stems from my garden for two weeks straight and is now wobbly — could this be heart damage? This is an emergency — take the cat to an emergency vet now. Oleander contains cardiac glycosides that attack… Dogs · Emergency guide My 12 kg dog with kidney disease chewed a cyclamen corm and is already vomiting — is this an emergency? Yes, this is an emergency. A dog with kidney disease can't cope with the vomiting and diarrhoea that cyclamen… Dogs · Emergency guide My 4 kg dog ate two lily of the valley heart supplements 3 hours ago. Should I rush to emergency vet now or wait for symptoms? Go now. Even two capsules can deliver a dangerous dose to a 4 kg dog. Lily of the valley commonly hides in… Cats · Food safety My 4 kg senior cat vomited after eating cilantro — what should I monitor over the next 24 hours, and what tests might the vet run if she seems unwell? Cilantro is safe for cats in small amounts, but individual sensitivity varies. Monitor her for recurring… Dogs · Emergency guide I've been giving my 12 kg dog 3 mg melatonin daily for three weeks — what happens with long-term use? Daily melatonin at 3 mg is roughly the right vet-range dose for a dog that size, so you're unlikely to see… Dogs · Emergency guide My 5 kg Chihuahua inhaled ammonia fumes from an open bottle left out all night — he seems fine now. How long should I keep watching him at home? He needs to be watched for at least 24 hours. Inhalation damages the respiratory tract, and swelling inside… Cats · Emergency guide My 3 kg cat licked the face of our newly treated dog — could a single lick of permethrin spot-on be enough to poison her? Yes, even one lick can be enough. Cats lack the liver enzyme needed to break down permethrin, so a single… Dogs · Emergency guide My 10 kg dog swallowed half a 500 mg paracetamol tablet an hour ago — is this an emergency even if he seems fine right now? Yes, treat this as an emergency. Half a 500 mg tablet gives 250 mg — for a 10 kg dog that is well above the… Cats · Emergency guide My 4.5 kg cat ate half a sertraline pill this morning and is now vomiting — could this be a sensitive stomach rather than poisoning? Vomiting after sertraline ingestion is not a sign of a sensitive stomach — it is a symptom of SSRI toxicity… Cats · Emergency guide My 3 kg cat chewed a wilting snake plant leaf that had been knocked over and left on the floor for two days — is it still toxic? Yes, it is still toxic. The saponins that cause oral burning and vomiting are present in the leaf regardless…

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