National Poison Prevention Week – Tips to Keep Your Cat Safe for Easter and Spring Cleaning
An Easter basket might seem harmless enough, but to a cat it is lurking with dangerous foods and items that could harm them.
With Easter only a few days away many of us will be celebrating the holiday. Many of us will also be gearing up for some spring cleaning as the weather starts to warm up and so it seemed appropriate to share a post on behalf of National Poison Prevention Week (March 20 – 26). We certainly don’t want to think a celebration or some cleaning could harm our kitties, but the truth is, cats are naturally curious and many common items inside and outside of our house can be toxic to them (and dogs and other animals as well). Without knowing what these items are, or what the symptoms can be, it could result in a serious illness or even death to our beloved pet if we don’t react accordingly.
The Easter Lily is beautiful, but it is highly toxic to cats. Photo from FreeImages.com
To aid in identifying these potentially dangerous items, the Pet Poison Helpline website has an A to Z list of what items are poisonous, what animal they are poisonous to, the level of toxicity if ingested, and what the common signs to watch for are. The list is far too comprehensive for me to outline, but I highly recommend you click here and look it over – you might even want to print it and keep it on file. I would also suggest you have the Pet Poison Helpline number, along with that of your veterinarian, on your cell phone and refrigerator in case of emergencies so you don’t have to go searching for the information in a panic.
If you find your pet has ingested something poisonous and you need to contact them, they are a 24/7 animal poison control service available throughout the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean for pet owners and veterinary professionals who require assistance with treating a potentially poisoned pet. Please be advised there is a $49 per incident fee which covers the initial consultation as well as all follow-up calls associated with the management of the case.
As taken directly from the Pet Poison Helpline website, the steps you should take if you suspect your pet has ingested something poisonous:
EMERGENCY INSTRUCTIONS:
If your dog or cat just ate something poisonous call your veterinarian or the Pet Poison Helpline at 800-213-6680 for help immediately! The sooner a poisoning is diagnosed, the easier, safer, and less expensive it is for your pet to get treated!
Remove your pet from the area.
Check to make sure your pet is safe and breathing and acting normally.
Do NOT give any home antidotes.
Do NOT induce vomiting without consulting a vet or Pet Poison Helpline.
If veterinary attention is necessary, contact your veterinarian or emergency veterinary clinic immediately.
DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS:
Immediately remove your pet from the area, and make sure no other pets (or kids!) are exposed to this area. Safely remove any remaining poisonous material from their reach.
Check to make sure your pet is breathing normally and acting fine otherwise.
Collect a sample of the material, along with the packaging, vial, or container, and save it – you will need all that information when you talk to your veterinarian or to a Pet Poison Helpline expert.
Do NOT give your dog any milk, food, salt, oil, or any other home remedies! Also, never inducing vomiting without talking to your veterinarian or Pet Poison Helpline – it may actually be detrimental or contraindicated to induce vomiting!
Don’t give hydrogen peroxide to your pet without checking with a vet or with Pet Poison Helpline first. For you cat lovers, hydrogen peroxide doesn’t work well to induce vomiting (it just causes massive foaming and salivating instead!), and stronger veterinary prescription medications are necessary to get your cat to vomit up the poison kitty ingested!
Get help. Program your veterinarian phone number, along with an ER vet and Pet Poison Helpline’s phone number (800-213-6680) in your cell phone so you will always have immediate access to help.
Keep in mind that the prognosis is always better when a toxicity is reported immediately, so don’t wait to see if your pet becomes symptomatic before calling for help. It’s always safer for your pet for you to call immediately. Remember that there’s a narrow window of time when we can decontaminate (induce vomiting or pump the stomach) in the case of a poisoning!
This post has been updated from a previous publication in order to reflect current times.
Thanks for this most important post! (shared!) Back in I think 2010 or so, I wrote a post about a little boy who had contacted me because his cat passed due to having ingested Easter Lilies. Their family never knew they were toxic, it was just a most heartbreaking story and one that didn’t have to end that way if only they had been made aware of information such as you have just provided! Thank you!!!
Oh Caren… what a sad story… the poor boy must have been beside himself. Thank you for sharing this post – I was shocked at how many items can hurt our pets…
Thanks Deb. Every plant in our yard is on that list, but the cats have never tried eating any of them…thankfully. Our very first cat, 30+ years ago got into something and was poisoned, but fortunately the vet was able to take care of him and he lived another 13 years. We can always depend on you to give us good information. Have a great week. Janet
thanx deb for taking time to put together this post and for including links…the list has been printed..
honestly there are several things on the list that I was surprised at; though the biggest came from
chives…long ago, my grandfather had a rottweiler that used to eat wild chives then get sick; we wrongly
assumed he had already HAD a belly ache and was eating grass///chives for his upset stomach…laura
Wow… isn’t that something, da tabbies. I think that happens frequently with animals when they eat certain types of grasses – we think they are doing because they are lacking certain vitamins or as a way to ease an upset stomach. So important to read this list!
Thanks for the very imformative post. So many things that I did not know could hurt the kitties.
This is such important information! We’ll have the mom keep that hotline number handy…but hopefully she’ll never have to use it.
Thank you so much for this very important information, Deb. We are really careful about stuff here, but have that Pet Poison Hotline number right by the phone — just in case!
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Great info here, tweeted it out!
We can never remind people too often. It’s usually the thing you least expect them to eat that they head for. I’m sure Jazmine is a handful!
This is such an important blog post that I’ve marked it for future reference. We need this reminder once a year at least, even tho we all think we know what to do/ Thanks for sharing this.
Very good reminder that lots of Easter treats are not good for us kitties.
Timely post indeed. I shared information about the lily the other day and was surprised to find out people didn’t know how dangerous it is.
Thanks for sharing this very informative post. During Holidays I always make sure chocolate and candy are kept away from my cat. We all know how curious they can be.
guys…grate post & thanx for sharin; we R gonna hafta chex R
poizon call magnet at home…thiz number doez knot sound like de one
we haz ???? happee easturr two all and heerz ta lotz oh DINO eggz ♥♥♥
Thanks for these important tips!
Such a great post. The holidays are so fun, but they do present many dangers for our furry friends.
Excellent post. We must keep our kitties safe just as we do kids.