Additional puppy poisons
Narrated from: Dog HealthYou have probably already heard that chocolate is very bad for your dog’s health. There is a chemical in chocolate called theobromine that can have a negative impact on your dog’s heart, kidneys, and lungs and even cause permanent damage to his nervous system. Let’s say, for instance, that you have a dog weighing in at about twenty pounds and he ingests 20 ounces of milk chocolate and survives; the same dog who ingests just 2 ounces of pure baking chocolate is doomed for certain death. If your dog gets a piece of a candy bar that has been dropped he will probably be just fine but if he gets in to baking chocolate go ahead and brace yourself for the worst. The symptoms include things like hyper-activity at first, tremors, seizures, elevated heart rate, appearing to be drunk and then coma. If you get your dog to the veterinarian very quickly he will likely induce vomiting or pump his stomach and follow that with activated charcoal, fluids and medications along with very aggressive treatments if necessary.
You need to be aware of the hazards of giving your dog caffeine. You can get all of the effects of chocolate poisoning with caffeine. The chemical is not exactly the same but the effects are. Caffeine pills are the worst but coffee, large amounts of tea or very concentrated tea and chocolate are all toxic. If you get your dog to the veterinarian quickly he will do the same things as he would for a chocolate induced reaction.
Macadamia nuts are very popular in so many homes and they too are toxic to dogs. Most often the reaction is not fatal, but it can sure make your dog very sick. It only takes a handful of macadamia nuts to cause illness in your dog. Another unlikely compound that is probably in your home that can cause severe liver damage is called xylitol. Xylitol is an artificial sweetener that is mostly found in chewing gum and some candies. This chemical makes the pancreas secrete too much insulin which causes liver damage. Make sure you dog cannot gain access to either macadamia nuts or artificial sweeteners.
You will want to keep your eyes peeled for fruit pits and seeds also. The culprit here is, believe it or not, cyanide. Apple seeds, cherry pits, plum pits, peach pits and the leaves, and the fruit and bark of avocado trees are all toxic to your dog. In some cases you may find that your veterinarian has the antidote for this toxin but it is much easier to keep your pet from getting to it in the first place. The chemical in avocados is different from the toxin found in most fruits but it can still be fatal.
You will need to watch out for alcohol. Even very small amounts of alcohol can contain ethanol and that is seriously toxic to dogs. Ethanol is also found in uncooked yeast dough. Ethanol is very quickly absorbed in your system and if Fido gets into it you will need to seek medical attention as quickly as possible. Your veterinarian will need to be very aggressive with treatment. It is not usually advisable to induce vomiting because it is absorbed so quickly. Some other things you will need to watch out for are aspirin, chlorine and if you put out rat poison you will need to make sure your dog can not ingest a mouse that has been in the poison!
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