According to the Pet Poison Helpline, Banfield’s partner in diagnosing and treating poison cases, nearly half the calls from the hotline deal with Pets ingesting human medications. Even with a Pet owner’s best intention, accidents can still happen. Below are tips from Dr. Justine Lee and Dr. Ahna Brutlag (from the Pet Poison Hotline) on how to best prevent these accidents from happening.
Always keep medications safely out of reach ad never administer a medication to a Pet without first consulting your veterinarian. Use the following tips to prevent Pets from getting into over-the-counter or prescription medication:
- Never leave loose pills in a plastic Ziploc© bag the bags are too easy to chew into. Make sure visiting house guests do the same, keeping their medications high up or out of reach.
- If you place your medications in a weekly pill container, make sure to store the container in a cabinet out of reach of your Pets. Unfortunately, some Pets might consider the pill container a plastic chew toy.
- Never store your medications near your Pet’s medications. Pet Poison Helpline frequently receives calls from concerned Pet owners who inadvertently give their own medication to their Pet.
- Hang your purse up. Inquisitive Pets will explore the contents of your bag and simply placing your purse up and out of reach can help to avoid exposure to any potentially dangerous medication(s).
It is also important to note that while a medication may be safe for children, it may not be safe for animals. Pets metabolize medications very differently from people. Even seemingly benign over-the-counter or herbal medications can cause serious poisoning in Pets.
If you suspect your Pet has been poisoned, it is best to immediately take your Pet to your Banfield veterinarian or an emergency veterinarian. In the event that you are unable to do that, you can contact Pet Poison Helpline at 1-800-213-6680 for initial information about the potential toxin your Pet may have been exposed to. Pet Poison Helpline is a service available 24 hours, seven days a week for Pet owners, veterinarians and veterinary technicians. Staff can provide treatment advice for poisoning cases of all species, including dogs, cats, birds, small mammals, large animals and exotic species. As the most cost-effective option for animal poison control care, Pet Poison Helpline’s fee of $35 per incident includes follow-up consultation for the duration of the poison case. You can also find additional information on poisonings at www.petpoisonhelpline.com.
