Veterinarian John Conley talks to Abigail during a regular check up. For dogs, Conley says, anything from dark chocolate to rat poison can prove toxic. Pet poison cases come through his office three or four times a month. Abigail belongs to Carole and Ken Wilson of Le Mars. [Click to enlarge]

These are just a few of the things that Iowa's Poison Control Center hotline answered calls for this year.

What do onions, chocolate and cents have to do with poison? A lot, if you're a dog.

In the last year, the Iowa Statewide Poison Control Center answered 1,562 calls on poisonings to a unique population: animals.

The biggest part of that -- 85 percent -- was for dogs, and 12 percent was about cats. The rest: a bird, a horse, a rodent, a cow, a horse, sheep and goats.

Pest control turns pet poison

Local veterinarians say that the biggest culprit they see in pet poisonings is rat poison.

"It's probably the number one, mainly in dogs," said Dr. Paul Prieksat of Le Mars Veterinary clinic.

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Rat poison is often an anticoagulant, explained Dr. John Conley of Town and Country Veterinary Clinic. That means it keeps blood from clotting.

He told the story of two dogs he suspected got into rat poison.

"Two or three days later, one of them couldn't walk, they'd bled so much internally and through nosebleeds," he said. "We had to give them a transfusion."

Dogs, he said, like the taste of the poison, which is flavored to entice rodents.

Rat poison is among things called in to the Iowa Statewide Poison Control Center, according to Tammy Noble who works at the Sioux City-based organization. The majority of the calls on their poison helpline -- 27,991 last year -- deal with human exposure to a variety of poisons. But this call on rat poison was about a different sort of victim.

"We had a call about a herd of dairy goats that ate a bunch of rat poison, and they didn't know which goats ate the poison and which didn't" Noble said. "The owners were wondering if they could still milk the goats and drink the milk."

The poison control center called a vet toxicologist at Iowa State University for advice.

"They felt if the owners were putting the all the milk together it would be diluted enough and it would be fine," Noble said.

Nearly three-quarters of the year's callers requesting animal poison help were pet owners, she noted. A quarter were veterinarians. And for most the calls, a pet swallowed something they shouldn't have, although some callers were worried about a pet's skin exposure to something. The call data comes from July 2005 to June 2006.

"We get a lot of calls on insecticides," Noble said. "Ant bait traps have peanut butter in them, and dogs love peanut butter."

If a pooch chews open an ant trap, though, the amount of insecticide is usually small enough not to do too much harm, she said. Field chemicals are a different story.

"They are higher in toxicity, so it doesn't take much," she said.

Dr. Conley said agricultural insecticides and herbicides cause the most trouble in animals raised for food.

He recalled a story of a man who accidentally sprinkled his cattle's food with insecticide instead of salt.

"It has a salty taste, so the cattle ate it," Conley said. "He lost six or eight animals."

Insecticides often interfere with an animal's nervous system transmissions, he explained.

But insecticides and herbicides you spray on your lawn pack less punch, he added. They might cause a little vomiting, but rarely a dangerous dog poisoning.

The problem with chocolate

A list of possible pet poisons couldn't be complete without the sweet stuff. Chocolate for dogs is a big no-no.

"The day before yesterday I had a call about a dog that ate a whole Cadbury chocolate egg," Conley said. "Twenty minutes later, the owner called back. Now the dog ate a Nestle Crunch bar."

Conley told the owner the dog might be a little sick but not to worry too much.

"Rarely do we see toxicity unless it's dark chocolate," he said. "I'm not too concerned about milk chocolate."

Noble explained why. Two of chocolate's ingredients -- caffeine and theobromine -- speed up a dog's heart rate and can cause fever, vomiting, diarrhea and even seizures. The amount of those two ingredients depends on the kind of chocolate.

"If you're making brownies and using bakers' chocolate, there's more theobromine in it than a Hershey's bar, for example," she said.

When it comes to chocolate, the dog's size also matters, she added. A Hershey's Kiss won't have the same affect on a Great Dane as it will on a Miniature Pinscher.

Not just halitosis

Garlic and onions mean more than bad breath for a dog.

"When a dog eats garlic it can cause a blood disorder, and with onions it's the same type of thing," Noble said.

The problem: they can break down red blood cells and potentially cause anemia.

Cats, plants don't mix

Keeping cats away from houseplants might save more than your prize potted greenery.

"Plants are always a big question," Noble said.

Day lilies, tiger lilies and Easter lilies are dangerous for cats to eat.

"Cats have very delicate kidneys, and they can send them into renal failure," she said.

"I don't like to see a cat eat any houseplant," Conley said.

Philodendron plants are toxic to cats, they can causing swelling in their mouths and throats. Plants around the holidays, like poinsettias, can be poisonous to felines as well.

But some owners feed their cats sprouted oats, and that's fine, Conley added.

He gave catnip the OK, too.

For dogs, he said, plants are rarely very toxic, and Noble agreed.

"Occasionally we'll get a call that a dog ate grass and got sick, but we don't usually worry about it too much," she said.

Pick up a penny

Finding a penny -- and eating it -- isn't good luck for pooches. At least if they were minted after 1982.

Pennies after that year have more zinc in them, and a dog's stomach acid causes a rapid release of the zinc, Noble explained. It gets into their blood system and can cause kidney damage.

"The problem is, if your dog eats a penny, you usually don't know what year the penny was," Noble said.

Not every penny causes a problem.

"I've seen coins in dogs occasionally, but I've never seen toxicity," Conley said.

Recently, he also heard a story of a dog that had about 30 golf balls in its stomach and it started getting sick.

"I guess it was fine up to 29 golf balls, but after that, it was too much," he laughed.

Other culprits

Paintballs, antifreeze, gum sweetened with Xylitol and human medications can be toxic for pets.

"Dogs will eat things they shouldn't," Conley said.

Noble said they'll get calls on paintballs since dogs like to chew on them.

"They'll be off-balance and shaky, maybe have diarrhea," she said. "We usually refer them to a vet for good observation, and a lot of times they'll need an IV."

Antifreeze doesn't mix with animals in general, but Noble said dogs are usually the subject of calls they get.

"It tastes real sweet, and cats don't usually go for the sweet taste. It's a real problem with dogs," she said. "There's a fine line between what they can handle and what's toxic."

Symptoms of antifreeze poisoning show up a few hours later, she said. They'll be weak, walk with an unsteady gait, and even face seizures or death.

"What it does is shut the kidneys down," Noble said. "That's what it does in humans."

Dr. Prieksat said they see animals with antifreeze poisoning at their Le Mars clinic, but only about once a year.

As for medications, Noble said most human medicines will be toxic for dogs and cats. She recommended calling a vet or the Animal Poison Center to find out specifics if a pet swallows something they shouldn't.

Prieksat said it doesn't happen often, but they have seen intentional poisonings.

What to do

"If you suspect poisoning, act quickly," Conley urged.

Call a vet, he added, and don't encourage vomiting until you've talked to an expert.

"If you don't know how long ago your dog got into something, it could already be out of their stomach," he said. "Or it could be corrosive."

Be aware, he added, that anything toxic to people is probably toxic for animals.

Signs of poisoning in pets might be changes in their digestive system or nervous system symptoms like spastic behavior or incoordination.

Part of keeping pets safe is keeping possible poisons out of paws' reach, he said.

"Put anything potentially toxic in a safe place," he said, saying that went especially for rat poison. "You have to put that in a secure place. Put it up high so dogs can't get at it."

Conley said that pet-owners' relationships with their animals are changing, and that's bringing poisoning rates down.

"In my career, I've seen the relationship between people and pets get more controlled," he said. "People know where their pets are and what they're doing."

There's less chance for pets to get into something unnoticed. When people go somewhere, they often take their pets with them, he said.

"It's just a whole different relationship," he said.

For more information on pet poisoning, visit the Animal Poison Center at www.ASPCA.org. The Iowa Statewide Poison Center's free helpline is 1800-222-1222.

Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Pet

- Alcoholic beverages

- Avocado

- Chocolate (all forms)

- Coffee (all forms)

- Fatty foods

- Macadamia nuts

- Moldy or spoiled foods

- Onions, onion powder

- Raisins and grapes

- Salt

- Yeast dough

- Garlic

- Products sweetened with xylitol

Warm Weather Hazards 

- Animal toxins--toads, insects, spiders, snakes and scorpions

- Blue-green algae in ponds

- Citronella candles

- Cocoa mulch

- Compost piles Fertilizers

- Flea products

- Outdoor plants and plant bulbs

- Swimming-pool treatment supplies

- Fly baits containing methomyl

- Slug and snail baits containing metaldehyde

Medication 

Common examples of human medications that can be potentially lethal to pets, even in small doses, include:

- Pain killers

- Cold medicines

- Anti-cancer drugs

- Antidepressants

- Vitamins

- Diet Pills

Cold Weather Hazards

- Antifreeze

- Liquid potpourri

- Ice melting products

- Rat and mouse bait

Common Household Hazards

- Fabric softener sheets

- Mothballs

- Post-1982 pennies (due to high concentration of zinc)

Information from the Animal Poison Control Center Website, www.ASPCA.org