Thursday, March 22, 2012

Pet Poisons: Common Household Hazards That Can Harm Your Pet, A Guest Blog By VetStreet.com

Spring sure has arrived early for many of us in the U.S. Here in Michigan our normal highs should be in the 40s and we have been experiencing temperatures in the 70s and low 80s for approximately a week now!


I took a walk this morning and the buds on the trees are fat and plump, which doesn't usually happen until late April or early May!

With the early arrival of Spring, Spring cleaning will more than likely be occurring earlier as well. Whether it be indoor cleaning or outdoor gardening/fixing-up, there are things we should watch out for that could put our pets at risk.

Vetstreet.com has you covered with important tips in their blog post below!


Pet Poisons: Common Household Hazards That Can Harm Your Pet

Cleaning:

  • Detergents and fabric softener sheets can cause ulcers in the mouth, esophagus and stomach in dogs and cats. Toxicity Ranking: mild to moderate


  • Household cleaners, such as bleach, drain cleaners, ammonia and toilet bowl cleaners can cause gastrointestinal ulcers in dogs and cats. Toxicity Ranking: varies

  • Insecticides in flea and tick products can cause problems if not used according to labels. Insecticides that are meant for dogs can cause severe toxicity in cats, leading to vomiting, seizures and difficulty breathing. Toxicity Ranking: mild to severe

  • Mothballs, especially if they contain naphthalene, can be toxic to dogs and cats, resulting in vomiting, diarrhea, increased drinking and urination and seizures. Toxicity Ranking: moderate to severe

Yard Care/Garden:

  • Yard products, including snail and slug bait, herbicides and fertilizers, are never good for pets. Signs will vary by the ingredient. Toxicity Ranking: varies

  • Fertilizers can contain poisonous amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, iron, zinc, herbicides and pesticides. Keep dogs and cats away from treated lawns until they are dry. Toxicity Ranking: mild to moderate


  • Lilies — Easter, day, tiger, Japanese and Asiatic varieties — can cause kidney failure in cats. Lilies of the valley can cause heart rhythm problems and death in dogs and cats. Toxicity Ranking: moderate to severe

  • Tulip bulbs can lead to mouth irritation, drooling, vomiting and diarrhea. Toxicity Ranking: mild to moderate (potentially life threatening)

For more information on household hazards and many other pet topics, please visit Vetstreet.com 

12 comments:

  1. That's a good article. Thanks for sharing!
    Seems like Spring came early this year...

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  2. Spring has so sprung!!

    Yay for this very important reminder! Take care
    x

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  3. Super warm(er) than it should be here too and humans are doing all that cleaning up stuff they like to do in the Spring. Peeps and pets need to be careful all the time but now especially.

    Kitty Hugs
    Sammy

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  4. We love spring except it brings itches for my Lily. Hope you enjoyed your walk. Bringing awareness to all those poisons sure is a good idea
    Benny & Lily

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  5. Everything is budding or in bloom here. Spring cleaning? HAH! Cleaning is a bad word around our house! TW uses all natural things around the house and still worries about them. We think one of the causes that Nicky could have died from was the Swifter stuff so that's been replaced by a steam mop. Method is big around here.

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  6. Goodness, those are a whole bunch of good ideas to keep our Mom from cleaning. LOL. She is very careful with all that stuff around us.Great post and very important. Take care

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  7. @CK what Swifter stuff? I sometimes use a Swifter paper thingy on the mop but not liquid...that is scary! That is awful about Nicky...that is terrible, I am so sorry

    @Furries, it came early for everyone! I'm not totally convinced that we are out of the woods yet! lol

    @Marg, lmao, you think like I do lol

    @Brian, you got it!

    @Benny and Lily itchies are not good!! Poor Cody gets them too! Nearly forgot about my walk lol, that was yesterday!

    @Sammy sooo true and (((((kitty hugs))))) back at ya!

    @Old kitty at least I think it has sprung! Who knows? lol
    xoxoxo

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  8. Dear Caren,
    Thanks for the reminders!
    It may be spring there, but we had more snow this morning :(
    Kisses
    Nellie

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  9. Thanks for sharing especially about the flowers.. Hugs GJ xx

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  10. Funny thing about poisons- Jen tries to be diligent by using natural cleaning products (vinegar) and outdoor products (diatomaceous earth and sevin dust), but still she's made mistakes. Like the time she came home and found a chewed on bottle of ibuprofen in the living room floor. Still not sure how I got hold of it, but I did, and she learned another lesson. Thankfully the top didn't pop off and I didn't get into the meds.

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