You always want to watch what your pet might get themselves into. There are plenty of things out there toxic if ingested to our furry friends. Remaining mindful over what they may eat is always the best course of action to ensure they don’t get sick. But there are a lot of things you may find surprising that can be detrimental to your pets’ health.
Antifreeze
Now it is probably no surprise antifreeze can be extremely toxic if ever ingested, but it may surprise you the odor and taste is extremely appealing to your dog. This is because it is very sweet to the taste. But this sweet taste masks the dangers of kidney failure with ethylene glycol poisoning. Kidney failure kicks in after a few days after which death is imminent, unless careful monitoring and treatment is quickly addressed.
Feces
Yes it’s disgusting but many dogs eat feces they find on lawns or in cat litter boxes. This introduces a whole host of pathogens into their body, including the canine parvovirus. This is probably the most deadly of illness your dog can contract from feces ingestion. It directly causes vomiting and diarrhea, which result in dehydration and secondary infections. Moreover, blood and protein leak into the intestines leading to anemia and loss of protein while endotoxins escape into the bloodstream.
Cocoa Mulch
We all know chocolate is extremely dangerous to your dog. But you may not correlate that with the presence of cocoa mulch in your or your neighbor’s yard. The same toxin in traditional, eatable chocolate which makes dogs extremely ill, theobromine, is also present in the common yard mulch. So if you have a dog, as a cautionary step, try avoiding laying this type of mulch in your landscaping. Go with traditional chipped cedar or compost.
Making sure your pet is on a leash at all times when outside is the best way to prevent them from getting into trouble. Not only can it prevent the obvious, like getting hit by a car or venturing into danger, it also helps you keep tabs on what they might ingest.
