This page is meant to help you recognize when something may be seriously wrong, not to diagnose what is wrong or tell you how to treat it at home. If you know or suspect your dog or cat ate something toxic, the correct action is the same regardless of which signs you see: contact your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 immediately. Do not wait for symptoms to confirm a suspicion before calling.
General signs that can indicate poisoning
According to the Pet Poison Helpline, signs of poisoning vary a great deal depending on what was ingested, and this list is not exhaustive. Broadly, they fall into a few patterns:
Gastrointestinal signs include vomiting, diarrhea, drooling or excessive salivation, loss of appetite, and nausea. These are the most common early signs across many different toxins and are also common for reasons that have nothing to do with poisoning, which is part of why a professional assessment matters rather than a self-diagnosis from a symptom list.
Signs that can suggest internal bleeding include coughing up blood, vomiting blood, pale gums, a racing heart rate, unusual weakness or lethargy, and collapse.
Signs that can suggest kidney involvement include bad or unusual breath, loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, and a change in thirst or urination, either notably more or notably less than usual, or none at all. This pattern is particularly relevant after exposure to Grapes and dogsEmergency or Raisins and dogsEmergency, which the Merck Veterinary Manual identifies as a cause of acute kidney failure in dogs.
Signs that can suggest liver involvement include yellowing of the gums or eyes, weakness or collapse, disorientation or acting abnormally, vomiting, diarrhea, and unusually dark or tarry stool.
Why timing matters more than waiting to see
With several common household toxins, waiting to see whether symptoms develop loses valuable time. Xylitol (Sugar-Free Gum/Candy) and dogsEmergency, found in many sugar-free products, can cause a dangerous drop in a dog's blood sugar within an hour, according to the Pet Poison Helpline, often before obvious symptoms appear. Chocolate and dogsToxic ingestion is generally worth an immediate call as well, since the compounds responsible are processed slowly and effects can take hours to fully appear. In both cases, and in general, calling immediately after a known or suspected ingestion gives your veterinarian or poison control the most options.
What to have ready when you call
Being able to answer a few questions quickly helps whoever you call give the most useful guidance:
- What did your pet eat, or what do you suspect it ate, and roughly how much.
- When it happened, as closely as you can estimate.
- Your pet's approximate weight and any known health conditions.
- Any packaging, labels, or plant material you can identify, which is useful information for a veterinarian or poison control specialist even if you cannot bring it with you.
This page intentionally does not include a decision tree, a list of home remedies, or guidance on inducing vomiting or otherwise treating a pet at home. According to the ASPCA, what is safe to do depends heavily on the specific substance, the amount, and the individual animal, which is exactly the kind of judgment call that belongs to a veterinarian or a poison control specialist on the phone with you, not a general article.
If you are reading this because of a current concern
Please call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 now rather than continuing to search for information. For background on specific foods once the immediate concern is addressed, see the full dog and cat food safety lists, or search a specific food with the food checker.