Vet reveals 6 common household items that could kill your dog

A Colorado-based veterinarian  is sounding the alarm on household items that could cause accidental pet deaths. 

Dr. Beth Turner, of Preventive Vet, spoke with Realtor.com about how seemingly safe items could be deadly for dogs. 

Plastic 

Dr. Beth Turner of Preventive Vet spoke about how plastic products, including bags and container, could lead to canine deaths.

‘Snacks, cereal, and other bags and containers can result in suffocation if a dog gets their head stuck in them,’ Dr. Turner explained to Realtor.com.

If a dog has not died after swallowing plastic, it could potentially suffer mouth injuries, gastrointestinal perforations, and intestinal obstructions.

Dog owners who question if their pet swallowed plastic should looking out for choking, coughing, pale gums, or their unwillingness to walk around.

Food and Drinks

Garlic and Onions contain n-propyl disulfide – an oxidant that can damage a canine’s red blood cells, and cause them to suffer an abnormal heart rhythm or lung failure

Food and beverages like garlic, onions, chocolate, grapes, coffee, and alcohol, can be harmful for dogs, and occasionally poisonous.

For example, canines who ingest raw or cooked garlic or onions could be poisoned from those foods, according to Wag!.

Garlic and Onions contain n-propyl disulfide – an oxidant that can damage a canine’s red blood cells. 

If dogs were to ingest these foods, they could begin suffering from symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, and a rapid heart rate within one to seven days after consumption.

However, dogs can suffer minor to severe symptoms just hours after they drink caffeine and alcohol.

The amount ingested makes a difference, and dogs can experience symptoms ranging from vomiting and diarrhea to abnormal heart rhythm or lung failure.

Cleaning Products

Cleaning products are one of the leading causes of pet poisonings. Products that could kill animals include bathroom cleaners, soap, and hand sanitizers

Cleaning products like bleach and laundry detergents are one of the leading causes of pet poisonings, according to Animal Emergency Service. 

Other common ingredients in cleaning products that can be just as harmful are ammonia, bleach, chlorine, formaldehyde, and isopropyl alcohol.

The damage cleaning products can do to dogs depends on how they were exposed, which includes ingesting, inhaling, or touching.

It is important for pet owners to also watch out for their dogs’ exposure to products like bathroom cleaners, soap, and hand sanitizers.

Symptoms dogs can suffer depending on their exposure range from sneezing and coughing, to chemical burns and acute kidney failure.

Batteries

Dogs could be exposed to an acidic substance leak if they chew on a battery, with potential injuries such as burns in their mouths, esophagi, or stomachs

Batteries could be harmful if dogs start to chew on them.

The chewing could lead to an acidic substance leak, which could give dogs burns in their mouths, esophagi, or stomachs.

Dogs who swallow batteries could also experience drooling and an obstruction or blockage in their intestines, according to the ASPCA.

Although prevention is the most ideal, experts advise dog owners to take their dogs to the veterinarian as soon as possible. 

Plants

Plants contain substances like alkaloids, glycosides, proteins, amino acids, and they can be surrounded by fertilizers

Not all plants or poisonous for dogs, but those that are could cause canines to experience symptoms like rashes, seizures, stomach pain, or mouth ulcers.

Plants contain substances like alkaloids, glycosides, proteins, amino acids, and they can be surrounded by fertilizers.

Those substances can lead to a variety of health problems in their kidneys, nervous systems, or hearts.

Minor symptoms are common for dogs who eat plants, but they can also suffer more serious issues like liver or kidney damage, or could land them in a coma.    

Experts have advised dog owners to take their pets to the vet if they suffer symptoms from plant poisoning, and to bring the plant with them.

Some of these poisonous plants to look out for are bluebells, daffodils, and tulips.  

Beta-blockers, antidepressants, and ADHD medications are just some of the substances that could cause a canine to suffer nausea, vomiting, and weakness

Medication metabolization is different in dogs compared to humans for both over-the-counter and prescription medications.

‘Human medication poisonings also happen when pet owners try to treat their pet with their own medications,’ Dr. Kyla Townsend, a veterinarian with the BC SPCA said last March.

‘They see their pet in pain and want to help them so they give their dog or cat Tylenol or another over-the-counter medication, not realizing that it can be very harmful to pets.’

Beta-blockers, antidepressants, and ADHD medications are just some of the substances that could cause nausea, vomiting, weakness, and occasionally, a slow or rapid heart rate.