Foods That Poison Pets — and What to Do If Yours Just Ate One

If your pet has just eaten something on this list, call your vet or an emergency clinic now, before you do anything else. Do not wait for symptoms. With several of these, by the time the animal looks unwell the damage is already underway, and the treatment that works best is the one that starts early.

And do not try to make your pet vomit at home. Salt, hydrogen peroxide and a finger down the throat cause chemical burns, aspiration pneumonia and poisoning of their own — and some substances do more harm coming back up than they did going down. A vet can empty a stomach safely and, just as importantly, knows when it is not worth doing at all. That decision is theirs to make, not yours to guess at.

When you call, have three things ready and say them in this order. What: the exact product, and the packaging or wrapper if you still have it, because the ingredient list matters far more than the brand name. How much: the honest worst case, not the flattering estimate — up to half a 100 g bar beats a bit. When: clock time, not a while ago. Then your pet's species, weight, age, and any existing illness or medication. If it happened within the last two hours, lead with that; that window changes what your vet can do.

The list itself. Chocolate: the darker and more bitter, the more dangerous — baking chocolate and cocoa powder are the worst offenders, milk chocolate is milder, white chocolate barely counts. Xylitol, also sold as birch sugar: this is the one that catches people out, because it hides in sugar-free gum, some peanut butters, protein bars, toothpaste and even some medicines, and in dogs it can crash blood sugar within about thirty minutes and injure the liver. Grapes, raisins, sultanas and currants, including buried inside a slice of fruitcake, can cause kidney failure in dogs and do it unpredictably: some dogs eat a handful with no effect, others react to very little, and nobody can tell in advance which dog is yours. Onion, garlic, leek, chives and shallot — raw, cooked, powdered, or hidden in gravy and baby food — damage red blood cells, and the signs can be delayed by days. Macadamia nuts. Alcohol, including raw bread dough, which keeps fermenting inside the stomach. And cooked bones of any kind, which splinter and can perforate the gut.

Dogs and cats are not small versions of each other. Cats are far more sensitive to onion and garlic and to essential oils, and their livers handle many substances differently; dogs simply get into more trouble because they eat first and think later. Rabbits, birds and small mammals have their own lists again — ask an exotics vet, not a dog forum.

Just a little bit is not automatically safe, because what matters is the amount relative to body weight. A square of dark chocolate is a shrug for a 40 kg (88 lb) Labrador and a real problem for a 3 kg (6.6 lb) Chihuahua. That is also why he has had it before and was fine should never talk you out of calling.

Prevention is unglamorous and it works: a bin with a lid, bags off the floor — handbags with gum and medication in them are behind a startling number of poisonings — counters cleared, and guests and children briefed. Put your vet's number and the nearest 24-hour clinic in your phone tonight, while nothing is wrong.