Toxic Meds for Pets

Whether your pet overdoses on, has an adverse reaction to, or accidentally ingests medication, drug toxicity is a serious matter. Human and pet medications both pose risks to pets.

Human Medications

Many pets can’t seem to resist human medications that have been flavored to be more palatable. Medications like candy-coated pain relievers, chocolate-flavored vitamins or sweetened cough syrups can be irresistible to pets, so be sure to keep these kinds of drugs safely out of reach.

Never give your pet human pain relievers—in brand name or generic forms—like acetaminophen (Tylenol^® or Excedrin^®), or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) medications like aspirin, ibuprofen or naproxen (Advil^® or Aleve^®). Pets do not metabolize these drugs like humans do, and liver and kidney failure can result, putting your pet’s life at risk.

Always read your pet’s medication bottle or label carefully. One of the most common accidental pet overdoses occurs when pet owners place their own medication on the counter with their pet’s medication; inadvertent administration of your human drugs to your pet can be easily avoided by dosing carefully. Take extra precautions to ensure that all medications stay out of your pet’s reach.

Make sure to store medication bottles in secure, raised bathroom cabinets. Unfortunately, even child-proof caps aren’t dog-proof, due to those sharp teeth. Finally, properly dispose of expired medications.

Pet Medications

Accidental administration of a dog topical flea product onto a cat can result in life-threatening seizures; avoid this by reading the instructions carefully before applying these types of products.

Never split medications or doses without talking to your veterinarian first. Buying a topical flea ointment for large dogs and splitting the dose for two smaller dogs is never advised and can result in accidental overdoses. Also, don’t reuse medications on other pets in the household.

Rarely, drug reactions can occur even with the appropriate dosing and administration.

If you ever notice any problems, contact your veterinarian, the drug company or Pet Poison Helpline* immediately to find out how best to treat the reaction.

Pet-Proof Your Home

With a little extra effort, you can easily poison-proof your home. These simple tips can help you protect your pet and avoid poisoning emergencies.

• Cover trash bins—or better yet, store them in a pantry or closet.
• Fence off compost bins—for the sake of your pet and the wildlife!
• Install baby locks on cabinets that house cleaning solutions.
• Store medications in secure, elevated cabinets.
• Don’t store pills in plastic zipper bags or weekly pill storage containers, as these are easy for dogs to chew through.
• Close toilet lids, especially if you use automatic or clip-on toilet bowl cleaners.
• Before purchasing plants for your home or yard, check our toxic plant database to ensure that you have non-toxic plants in your household.
• Wipe down your pet’s belly, legs and paws after being outdoors, particularly in the winter when salt is on the road.
• Keep your purse (and its contents, like xylitol gum and drug containers) out of your pet’s reach.
• Double check the pills you’re about to administer to your pet and to yourself; oftentimes, owners mix the two by accident.
• Don’t leave pills out—even for a few seconds—as your pet could knock them off the counter and ingest them quickly.
• Purchase VPI Pet Insurance.

Garden Dangers for Pets, Household Toxins for Pets, Top 10 Pet Toxins, Toxic Food for Pets, Toxic Plants for Pets, You Think Your Pet's Been Poisoned: Now What?

*A fee is billed by Pet Poison Helpline. PPH is not affiliated with VPI Pet Insurance.

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