Toxins General

Your pet ate WHAT? If only you called me sooner!  How often I want to say this, but I don’t want my client to feel worse than they already do.  Many people think that when a poison is consumed their pet will fall over frothing at the mouth in the first hour.  While this can happen, it is rare.  Many poisons take hours or days to show their evil effects.  Antifreeze toxicity shows few signs in the first few hours after consumption, but during this time can be counteracted. After 12 hours the poisoning is almost irreversible, and will cause severe, usually fatal kidney failure.  Rat poison may not show symptoms for several days, but once the severe anemia and bruising are obvious can be expensive to treat.  Both of these examples are important because if we know a pet has gotten into these substances right away we can reverse or prevent problems saving both lives and money.  If your pet consumes something it shouldn’t, PLEASE, don’t wait.  Call your Veterinarian or the Animal Poison Control Center (888-426-4435, www.aspca.org/apcc).