Household Items that could harm your Pet Article

Jun 10

Household Items that could harm your Pet

When getting a new dog or cat, there is a certain amount of “pet-proofing” that has to be done. The most obvious items to be careful of are chocolates and electrical cords, but there are also some things that even veteran pet owners may miss. This is a guide to a few common items that may be dangerous and how to go about treating your pet if he does ingest them.

Liquid Potpourri
Though this device fills your house with a lovely scent much better than a lit candle would, it could be very dangerous if your pet discovers it, which is likely to happen since the simmer pots often resemble a cup or bowl. Besides the chance of getting badly burned by drinking the hot oil, detergents used in the potpourri can also harm your pet. Many of the ingredients can induce ulcers in your pet’s throat and intestines.

Sugar Substitutes
Xylitol is an ingredient often used in sugar-free candy, cookies, gum, baked goods, and toothpaste. This ingredient has been known to cause low blood sugar and liver damage in pets that have ingested one of these items. If your pet ingests ANY amount of a sugar-free product that may contain Xylitol it is crucial that you get your pet to a veterinarian- a 22 pound dog may be in danger by just eating a gram of the item.

Plants
Lilies have the possibility of becoming lethal if eaten in large quantities. Ingesting even a small part of the lily could cause significant kidney damage. Other plants that can be harmful are azaleas and rhododendrons. Symptoms to look for include vomiting, drooling, diarrhea, and weakness. Eating large quantities of these plants could lead to depression of the central nervous system and in rare cases, death.

Glue
What about glue would be attractive enough to a pet to eat it? If it is lying on the floor, its small bottle can easily be confused as a toy. This is bad news if the pet punctures the bottle and ingests the glue, which will then travel to the stomach and absorb moisture, making it expand. This leaves your pet with a large rock-like mass in its stomach. A sign of glue ingestion is a swollen stomach, so if you suspect your pets stomach is expanded, a trip to the veterinarian is a good idea, the glue may need to be surgically removed if too large to be passed naturally.

Onions and Garlic
These two foods contain sulfur compounds that irritate animals intestines and harm their red blood cells. This can in turn cause anemia. So use caution as to what you feed your pet or what it finds in the garbage can so that it doesn’t have either of these foods. If you suspect your pet has ingested onions or garlic and is now vomiting, take it to the veterinarian immediately.

Grapes or Raisins
Though the harmful element of these foods is unknown, if your animal eats grapes or raisins they have been known to cause gastrointestinal problems such as vomiting and diarrhea, and kidney failure also commonly occurs. It is important that if these foods are ingested, you seek help from a veterinarian.

Loose Change
It is obvious that if an animal finds change lying around it could be eaten and choked on. But the bigger problem comes if your pet ingests a penny. They’re made with zinc which is toxic. If a penny sits in your pet’s stomach, the zinc is absorbed by red blood cells which causes severe anemia and further kidney problems. In addition, the more recently the coin was minted, the more zinc it contains- in short, the newer the penny, the more toxic it becomes.

Pine-oil Cleaners
If a pet ingests pine-oil cleaners, an ingredient found in it (phenol) can cause very serious liver damage. It is easy to ingest as well, a cat may lick up a wet area of the cleaner before it dries on the floor, or just lick its paws after walking through a still wet room.

These items show that it is extremely important to take note of things in your house, no matter how small they may seem in order to prevent injury and death of your pet.