First Aid and Emergency Care for Dogs and Cats by Cats Are People Too - HTML preview

Poisoning

A condition that results from the ingestion, inhalation, absorption, injection, or application of a substance that causes structural damage or functional disturbance of the tissues of the body.

What to Do

To summarize:

**     Try to get in touch with a veterinarian or a poison control center, and follow their instructions.

**     If you can't get in touch with either and the poisoning occurred within the last 3 hours, induce vomiting unless your pet has ingested a petroleum product, a cleaning solution, or a strong acid or alkali.

**     *If the product is a petroleum product, cleaning solution, strong acid, or strong alkali, or was ingested more than 3 hours ago, you must get your pet to a veterinarian as soon as possible.

**     If the pet vomits, save a sample of the vomitus for later inspection by the veterinarian.

**     For accidental application of a chemical to your pet's skin, see chemical injuries.

What NOT to Do

**     *Do not give any liquid (other than the hydrogen peroxide or syrup of ipecac if inducing vomiting): they may move the poison into the body sooner.

**     Do not attempt to induce vomiting in seizuring, confused, or comatose pets.