Mr. Bigglesworth Ate What? Poison Control Center

At least once a day, I get a phone call about something a dog or cat has eaten something that it probably shouldn’t have. These phone calls are sometimes amusing, i.e. Mr. Bigglesworth just ate his own poo. Gross, but likely will not cause harm. Others are more concerning, like Ace just ate an entire plate of brownies. And they were dark chocolate brownies. And Ace weighs two pounds. Thanks to years of training and education, I know that 1) Mr. Bigglesworth will have stinky breath and 2) Ace needs to come in for an emergency examination ASAP. Unfortunately, not all emergencies are quite as clear-cut as these two examples. Let me explain.
There are pets out there that will chew up an entire vial of their owner’s pills. With thousands of medications on the market and thousands more of supplements, herbal remedies, and vitamins, there are countless combinations of medications that animals can accidentally eat. Some of these same medications are used in veterinary medicine, some are not. Some medications have well understood side effects and toxicity levels, some are unknown.
Besides medications, dogs and cats have been known to chew on various plants, flowers, tress, shrubs, rocks, mulch. Some of these are toxic. Some of them are only partially toxic (leaves, flowers, roots). Some of these are well known, some are plants many people have never heard of.
Why does this all matter? Because if your cat or dog eats a medication, or an entire pill box of medications, or an exotic plant we’ve never heard of, we might not know how dangerous that medication or plant is. Your best bet is to contact the ASPCA poison control center at 888-426-4435. It will cost you a $65 consultation fee, but they have the largest database of plants and medications and are staffed by veterinarians 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If they determine that your pet requires medical care, they will assign a case number and work step-by-step with your veterinarian to recommend the best medical treatment.
So if Mr. Bigglesworth eats more poo or Ace finds another plate of brownies, call me. But I might need you to call poison control, too.
Stevenson Ranch Veterinary Center is located at 25832 Hemingway Ave. in Santa Clarita.  For more information, please call 661-799-0655 and visit www.srvc.com.