It’s important to observe your pet closely and note any subtle or significant changes in your pet’s behavior. Your dog or cat can’t tell you if they’re unwell or if they’re allergic to any food or substance. The common poisons for pets include several human foods, household substances, chemicals and cleaning products, human medications, and certain plants.

While some symptoms appear clearly, others are subtle and take time before becoming obvious. Your pet can develop toxicity if it ingests, inhales, or even absorbs a certain dose of the toxic substance. And the symptoms vary from pet to pet and depend on the intensity of the substance.

How toxic products can affect your pets
Poisons work their way by damaging chemical reactions or functions within the cells, molecules, or organs. This only happens after a significant dose of a toxic substance enters the body and accumulates in the cells. Poisons can trigger various responses within the body, including:

• Disrupting critical cellular functions
• Affecting the lungs, kidneys, and liver, and eventually make organs non-functional
• Attacking the blood cells that lead to internal bleeding
• Attacking the central nervous system that affects the heart and brain functioning

Symptoms of intoxication in dogs and cats
While there are several signs and symptoms of cat and dog toxicity, a specific set of symptoms doesn’t always indicate it. Different types of poisoning have different symptoms. Some have an immediate effect on your pet, while others take several days to show up. However, the following symptoms indicate an immediate call for action, especially if it happens frequently:

• Drooling with nausea and vomiting
• Diarrhea with blood in the stools
• Difficulty in passing stools
• Seizures and tremors
• Drastic loss of appetite
• Nose bleeding
• Easily bruising
• Lethargy
• Experiencing difficulty in urinating
• Irregular heartbeat
• Unresponsive behavior

Some of these symptoms are elaborated further.

1. Gastrointestinal poisoning symptoms
Loss of appetite and vomiting are the common signs of gastrointestinal poisoning in pets. It begins after eating garbage or paint, and also by consuming a toxic plant like English Ivy. Digestion and gastric problems are also caused by poisoning due to chocolate, medications, and other toxic plants like poinsettia, pokeweed, and daphne.

2. Seizures and neurologic poisoning symptoms
Various poisoning substances like tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, antidepressants, aspirin, several home cleaners, and flea repellents lead to seizures and other neurological symptoms. Some house plants and reptiles also cause neurological symptoms in pets. Other neurological symptoms include:

• Nervousness
• Depression
• Hyperactivity
• Behavioral changes like being extremely calm to over-excitement or anxiety
• Unsteady gait
• Loss of coordination
• Loss of consciousness or going into a coma

3. Respiratory symptoms due to poisoning

• Labored breathing
• Coughing and sneezing
• Rapid breathing and increased heart rate
• Weakness and lethargic feeling to the extent of being unable to move
• Swelling or inflammation of the skin

4. Symptoms of internal bleeding

• Coughing or vomiting blood
• Yellowish gums
• Blood in stools or nosebleeds
• Anemia
• Collapse
• A racing heart rate
• Fatigue

5. Unresponsive behavior
While your pet may remain conscious, he/she cannot hear or recognize anything. Your pet may also not know who and where you are. It’s a case of stupor where your pet will need your love and comprehensive care.