Poisoning Hazards
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 A typical household has a variety of chemicals and other substances which are capable of causing serious harm to our pets. This article outlines the common hazards, how to avoid them, how to recognise the signs if your pets have been exposed to a poison and the action that you should take.
There is an endless list of substances which might be responsible for rare cases of poisoning in pets, but some of the more common poisons include - in roughly alphabetical order - alcohol, antifreeze, aspirin, carbon monoxide, chocolate, drugs and medicines of many kinds (including illegal substances, contraceptive pills, and all sorts of other medicines including such things as cough linctus and indigestion remedies), fertilisers, insecticides, lead (mainly from paints or old car batteries), metaldehyde (slug bait), mushrooms and toadstools, onions, other plants (both indoor and outdoor), rat and other vermin poisons, and weedkillers.
This list is by no means exhaustive and there are many other items around the house, garage and garden which can cause rare episodes of poisoning - however, the addition of bittering agents (which make many products such as bleach and other common household cleaning chemicals almost impossible to swallow in quantity) has reduced the likelihood of accidental ingestion. Other poisons, which were historically important, such as strychnine, are no longer generally available in the UK.
Many suspected poisoning incidents remain unresolved because no one knows what has been swallowed. In other cases, the poison is known and action can be taken before any signs actually develop.
First Things First
The most important thing to do with poisons is, of course, to avoid them by proper and safe storage. Whereas high shelves and lockable cupboards may be enough to protect children from the risks, cats can reach the most inaccessible of places and dogs can chew through most materials if they are determined enough. To protect pets, the only answer is to store any known poisons in firmly closed or locked containers made of chew-resistant materials and to keep drugs or medicines of any kind in a locked cupboard or drawer (and, remember to lock it). This, of course, applies in the house, in the garage and in any garden stores or sheds. While some substances may require substantial amounts to be ingested before they become dangerous, other poisons can be dangerous in very small quantities.
Chocolate poisoning tends only to occur after relatively gross overeating but fatal episodes have been recorded, so again careful storage is essential (or perhaps the answer is to finish the box yourself!). Onion poisoning is commonly seen in Australia when dogs help themselves to the fried onions from the BBQ. Symptoms are usually mild, with blood in the urine being the main sign.
If accidental access to poisons is prevented by proper storage, and products such as insecticides, fertilisers and weedkillers are used carefully in accordance with the manufacturers' instructions, there should, in theory, be few risks while your pets are on your own property.
The majority of poisonings occur either as a result of careless storage (particularly of medicines) or when animals are away from their own home or garden. Typical examples include dogs going into farm buildings or stables and eating spilled rodenticides, or cats visiting neighbouring gardens where slug baits have been left out in quantity. You may be very careful in your own garden, but neighbouring gardeners may well not be as cat-conscious.
First Aid
In the event of a suspected poisoning, you should first of all remove any suspect material (including any vomit) which remains uneaten and keep it for possible investigation. Any skin contamination should be washed off as far as possible, using just water if it appears to be water-soluble material, or a product such as Swarfega or a detergent if it appears oily.You should use a large volume of water to ensure that the substance is thoroughly washed away, otherwise you might accelerate its absorption into the skin by dissolving it.
Experience in general practice suggests that the most common incidents involve anticoagulant rat poisons, organophosphorous insecticides, fertilisers and slug pellets, and common medications.
Attempts can be made to induce vomiting if the poison is known to have been eaten less than three to four hours ago, but are not advisable if the poison is thought to be anything corrosive like creosote or petrol products. Attempts to make the animal vomit are usually rather unsuccessful but you can try a couple of teaspoons of salt or mustard in a cup of warm water, or a crystal of washing soda placed on the back of the tongue. It is not a good idea to make repeated attempts to induce the animal to be sick.
Prompt veterinary treatment is essential for all cases of suspected poisoning and you should not do anything which delays getting the patient to the veterinary surgery unless you have been given instructions over the phone by your veterinary practice. (Do remember to telephone before going to the surgery - there is not much point arriving at an unattended surgery with a critically ill pet.) If the pet appears cold (as might, for example, occur with alphachlorolose [rodenticide] poisoning), keep it warm on the way to the surgery. Conversely, if the patient is overheated (eg, if convulsions are continuing), you may need to use ice or cold water to keep the temperature down. If you have good evidence of poisoning, such as a packet from a rat poison or a medicine bottle - remember to take it with you in case there is a specific antidote which can be used for that particular chemical.
At The Surgery
In many cases, treatment of poisoning is based on controlling the signs, such as convulsions. Specific antidotes may not be available or may not exist, but your vet has access to information in many forms and will be able to find out what form of treatment is most appropriate. In many cases, treatment of an unknown poison will involve sedation or anaesthesia (if the patient is still fully conscious), and washing the stomach of the remaining poison; activated charcoal may be used to absorb as much as possible from the bowel. Intravenous fluids (a drip) may be needed to support the circulation and correct dehydration. In some cases, treatment may need to be continued for several days or longer. In some instances it may take a few days before the full effects of the poison are seen; for example, where damage has been caused to the kidneys or the liver, for example, by paracetamol. Rat poisons, which stop the blood clotting and cause death by internal bleeding, may take several days to show their effects. In some cases, the first sign of trouble may be laboured breathing due to haemorrhage (bleeding) within the chest cavity. The majority of cases of rodenticide poisoning involve young dogs. Cats are rarely affected because they are generally much more selective feeders. In many cases of poisoning due to rat poison, treatment with the specific antidote, vitamin K, is successful. Success, however, depends on early recognition of the signs and on the amount of poison eaten in the first place. In some cases poisoning can be caused by an animal eating the carcass of a rat which has itself been killed by poison.
Ever Present Risk
In conclusion, it is probably true to say that suspected cases of poisoning are common but fatal or even serious incidents are actually quite rare. The risk is ever present, however, and, if poisoning is suspected, especially when there is good evidence of access to a toxic substance, prompt intervention is essential to minimise the chances of serious harm. If in doubt, call your vet for advice but, above all, take care with the storage of potentially harmful materials.
What to do if you suspect poisoning
It is important to realise that the symptoms of poisoning can be very variable, even for one particular poison. Signs can include:
Abdominal pain, blindness, collapse, coma or sudden death, effects on the heart rhythm, convulsions, diarrhoea, difficulty breathing, incoordination, muscle tremors, paralysis, drooling and vomiting.
In many cases it can be very difficult even for your vet to decide whether the cause of the signs is a poison, and circumstantial evidence may be very important in reaching a diagnosis. For example, fits or incoordination may be due to an epileptic seizure and vomiting may be due to a bowel infection rather than any sort of poison. Poisoning by plants tends to happen to young puppies or kittens which are not very discriminating about what they eat, but it is unusual for enough to be eaten to cause anything more than vomiting and diarrhoea. Plants such as laburnum, berries or toadstools can occasionally be the source of a problem and this author has seen one case in a cat which showed very bizarre signs after eating cannabis plants. If in any doubt about the possible effects of eating something unusual, the best advice is to contact the surgery.
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