March: Poison Prevention Month
Keeping Your Pet Safe: Avoiding Pet Poisons.
In 2016, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center received over 180,639 cases! Pet poisoning situations are extremely common, in part due to fact that many pet owners do not realize the wide variety of products which can cause an animal to become ill.
According to the ASPCA, the top 10 toxins consumed by animals are:
- Garden Products
- Plants
- Rodenticides
- Insecticides
- Chocolate
- Household Items
- Veterinary Products
- Food
- Over-the-counter products
- Human Prescription Medications
For pet owners, it is always important to be aware of the products that could be within your pets’ reach. The most commonly consumed item on the list, Human Prescription Medications, accounted for over 17% of all calls made to the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center. These medications also coincided with the most commonly prescribed medications to humans, including heart medications, antidepressants, and ADHD medications. This means humans are doing a poor job of keeping their medications out of reach!
Keeping household medications in high spaces like kitchen cabinets, medicine cabinets, or a locked drawer can help reduce the risk of pet poison.
Never give your pet a medication made to treat humans without checking with your veterinarian!
My Pet Has Been Poisoned! What Do I Do?
If you feel your pet has been poisoned, it is important that you take action immediately. Attempting to reach your local veterinarian, or finding an animal hospital close to you that can immediately treat your pet is vital. If needed, a poison control center such as the APCC may be called, however, they may charge up to a $65 fee and will likely refer you to your local animal hospital for treatment if poisoning has occurred.
March 18th – 24th is Poison Prevention Week!
This March, Island Animal Hospital will be celebrating poison prevention week, along with the AAPCC, or the American Association of Poison Control Centers. This week is designed to bring awareness to poisonous products and to help reduced the number of annual unintentional poisonings in both humans and pets!
Click Here to Watch Our Video: Protect Your Pet From Poisoning: Poison Control Tips from Island Animal Hospital!
If you feel your pet may have eaten a toxic item, do not hesitate to seek help.
Contact Information:
Island Animal Hospital on Cocoa Beach – (321) 783-6463
Island Animal Hospital at Viera – (321) 633-8387
Island Animal Hospital Merritt Island – (321) 453-2430