Xylitol is an artificial sweetener that is relatively well tolerated by most people. It is in lots of "sugar-free" or artificially sweetened products, from candy to gum to nutritional supplements like melatonin. Now there are a few brands of peanut butter that contain it. Xylitol in pets can cause life-threatening episodes of low blood sugar, […]
Category Archives: Toxins
Today a lady arrived at our door with a drooling, twitching puppy, and around a half-gallon of insecticide. It had been a full gallon when she left the house. When she returned home from her errand, she found the puppy in considerable distress. He had chewed on the spray-tube apparatus, and managed to drain half […]
This is Molly. A few days ago she was presented for an examination. She had been limping a little the night before and just didn't feel well. There was no lameness when she came in, but she didn't have much mojo. She didn't seem in any distress really, just no energy. She also had not […]
Most of the snakebites that I have to deal with here are from copperheads. We do have cotton-mouth water moccasins, but most of my patients are not in the water so much. Usually you just see some facial swelling, as dogs typically go in nose first, and the snake bites them on the lip. […]
KROGER RECALLS PET FOODS DUE TO POSSIBLE HEALTH RISK CINCINNATI, Ohio, December 18, 2010 – The Kroger Co. said today it is recalling select packages of pet food sold in some of its retail stores because the products may contain aflatoxin, which poses a health risk to pets. Kroger stores in the following states are […]
When the phone call starts that way, I am often skeptical. People often blame poisoning for everything from cancer to parvovirus diarrhea. How do you know it's been poisoned? Did you leave poison out where your dog could get it? Did you see him eat it? Before I could ask any of my questions, the […]
Why is this dog squinting? Well, I'll tell you about that. It seems that she and old Dad were out in the garage and somehow a box of rat-bait got knocked over. They knew how many chunks of bait were in the box and when they picked them up, they were short a chunk. Of […]
Yes, Wal-Mart's house brand of cat food (manufactured by Mars, makers of fine candy and pet food — a winning combination, but don't get confused on Halloween) has a little Salmonella prolem. Salmonella, famous for food poisoning, not for salmon. Here's a link to the full info. Supposedly these bags are all way out east […]
This time it's not the dreaded Chinese melamine. Apparently they are keeping that at home to put in their baby formula. It doesn't seem to be working any better for their babies than it did in the dog food here. This recall concerns possible contamination with Salmonella (can you say "food poisoning"?). Here's the website […]
This little recall (big if you're the company, I guess) only affects one size bag (20-pounds) of one product: PEDIGREE(R) Complete Nutrition Small Crunchy Bites. It's also in a limited market area, i.e. a long way away from me: Albertsons stores in Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada. The pet food is being voluntarily recalled […]