There are many foods we can share with our pets but there are some that can cause death. Be careful and know what is safe to feed and what is not!
- Chewing gum, peanut butter or baked goods containing xylitol. Xylitol is a sugar alcohol processed from plants and HIGHLY toxic to dogs, 1 piece of chewing gum can kill an 85 pound dog.
- Ibuprofen and Tylenol (Acetaminophen). This causes kidney and liver failure, respectively. Keep medicines put away and out of reach of your pets. Just 1 pill is dangerous–seek medical attention right away.
- Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, coffee and caffeine. Chocolate contains theobromine and caffeine, chemicals that causes seizures, muscle tremors and life-threatening heartbeat rhythms in dogs. Just 1 ounce of semi-sweet chocolate is toxic to a 10 pound dog.
- Raisins and Grapes. As a general rule 1 grape per pound or 2 raisins per pound of dog weight is toxic to your pet. It is best to just avoid feeding these all together. Too much of either causes kidney failure.
- Antifreeze. It actually tastes good to pets and it causes kidney failure and death. Drops are toxic to both cats and dogs. Seek medical attention right away!
- Rat poison. It tastes good! They make it this way so rats eat it and so will your dog and cat. There are 2 common kinds of rat poison, anticoagulant type–this has an antidote, but the other cannot. Rat poisons containing bromethalin are not reversible and typically end in death. Keep away from your pets!!!!
- Moldy foods. Do not let your pets eat spoiled foods! The mechanism is unknown but certain mycotoxins in spoiled foods can cause neurologic signs (like tremors and convulsions.)
- Onions and garlic. These are members of the Allium family and can cause bleeding issues with our pets. The stronger the smell of the onion or garlic, the more toxic it is. Onion and garlic powders are concentrated so these are more toxic. Cat owners be sure to not get baby food with onion powder on the label–it will be toxic to your cat.
- Macadamia nuts. The exact reason why is not know but if ingested it can cause tremors, vomiting, depression and high fever. Approximately 1 gram of nuts per pound of body weight can be toxic.
- Tobacco products and e-cigarettes. Nicotine is highly toxic to pets. They can become agitated, excited, vomit, have diarrhea then become lethargic and have slowed breathing which can result in death. Signs can be seen with just ingesting 1 cigarette butt in a 10 pound dog.