10 Poison Prevention Week Tips for your Cat

March 15-21 is National Poison Prevention Week. While cats are more likely to eat non-toxic items, such as ribbons and ear plugs (that are still a medical problem), there are still some cats that will eat other items that can be a problem due to a toxicity. To help prevent a poisoning incident, consider the following tips:

• If your cat takes medication regularly, keep the bottles hidden in a cupboard rather than out

  

  Pills are fun to catch, "kill" and eat.

  where the medication is accessible. If you need to have the medication out where you can see it to help remind you to give it, use a small weekly pill container, so that only a few pills are out and accessible, and make sure that the weekly pill holder is in an area that the cat cannot access. Keep the rest of the prescription behind closed doors.
• Be especially careful to keep chewable medications and vitamins out of reach (for humans or pets).
• Store human medications in a separate location from human medications to avoid confusing who gets which pill. Human prescription medications are the number one reason people call the Animal Poison Control Center, and over the counter human medications are the third most common reason. We have had phone calls from clients who have accidentally taken their pets' medication and calls from people who have accidentally given their own medication to their cat! If you drop a human medication on the floor, make sure to pick it up, immediately. Better yet, take your human medications over a counter or plate so that the medication never falls on the floor. We have had a few patients who have swooped in and stolen a toxic pill from the floor as their owner was reaching down to pick it up.
• Keep your purse, backpack or laptop bag out of reach of your cat. Many people carry

  

  Cats LOVE to get into bags, which can get them into trouble.

  medications, coins, batteries, various snacks, etc. in bags they carry around with them daily. If a pet can get into the bag, they have access to a wide array of things they should not eat! Additionally, we have had people who take their bags with them into homes with fleas bring fleas home to their own house and pets afterwards!
• Don't leave people food out where cats  can eat it! Many human foods are safe, but a number of foods that we can eat can be toxic to your cat. Chocolate is a toxin many people know of,

  

  Cats sometimes have strange ideas about what foods they want to eat

  however foods from the onion family, such as garlic, leeks, and scallions are also a concern for cat. Just like people can have adverse effects from drinking too much alcohol, cats can also suffer from intoxication and even coma and death from an alcoholic overdose.
• Keep flower arrangements and indoor plants out of reach of your cat. Some flowers are more toxic than others, and the beautiful members of the lily family are the most toxic of all. Even a small amount of pollen that a cat grooms off of its coat may be enough to cause kidney failure.
• If your cat goes outside, be sure to check with your neighbors to see if they use rodenticides. Additionally, find out if they use any insecticide sprays on their lawn, and on what schedule, so that you can make sure to keep your cat confined after a treatment has been applied. Also make sure to keep dog and cat parasite preventives separate - a number of products that are safe for dogs are toxic to cats. Only 11% of the 180,000 calls per year to the ASPCA Poison Control Center involve insecticides (that's about 20,000 cases of insecticide poisoning), but more than half of those cases involve cats. Many fertilizers may contain blood or bone meal or poultry manure, which can all be a cause for concern for your pets, as well.
• Keep your pet emergency phone numbers handy! Even better, take a minute right now and program the phone number of Exclusively Cats (248-666-5287), the ASPCA Poison Control Center (888-426-4435) and your favorite animal emergency hospital into your phone for easy access, if they are not there, already.
• Download the ASPCA Animal Poison Control's free app.

Want to know if the rumor you heard about a poisonous substance for pets is true? Check out the Animal Poison Control Center's "Okay or No Way!" list.

Here is some further information about poison prevention in cats:
Summer safety tips
Gardening with Cats
Lily Toxicity
Christmas Safety Tips

July 15th is National Pet Fire Safety Day!

Did you know that firefighters rescue more pets than people from burning buildings? People can get out of a house on their own, but pets, especially cats, can become frightened and hide in small places, making it difficult to evacuate them.

If you need a sticker for your door or window to alert emergency personnel that they should watch for pets in your home, visit this link. When you receive your window cling, write down the number of pets you have and then attach the cling to a front window. Your local fire department may also have stickers available.

Here are some additional pet fire safety tips:

• Extinguish Open Flames - Cats are curious critters and will investigate cooking appliances, candles, or even a fire in your fireplace. They will walk across hot stoves, and they will bat at hot irons. Ensure your pet is not left unattended around an open flame or other heated appliance and make sure to thoroughly extinguish any open flame before leaving your home. Note: a different kind of burn (chemical) can occur when cats come into contact with scented oils in diffusers or heated oil lamps. Please make sure that your cat does not come into contact with these aromatic oils. These burns worsen over time, so if your cat does spill scented oil on itself, please seek emergency attention for your pet immediately, even if the burn does not appear too bad.
• Pet Proof the Home - Take a walk around your home and look for areas where cats might start fires inadvertently, such as the stove knobs, loose wires and other potential hazards.If you have a cat that likes to chew wires, wrap the wires in bubble wrap, or spray them with a bitter tasting spray such as Bitter Apple.
• Secure Young Pets - Keep cat, especially young kittens, separated from potential fire-starting hazards when you are away from home.This may mean your kitten needs a special play-room when the house is empty until he or she is old enough to outgrow chewing behavior.
• Keep Pets Near Entrances - When leaving pets home alone, keep them in areas or rooms near entrances where firefighters can easily find them.  
• Practice Escape Routes with Pets - Have a plan for your cats in case you have to evacuate quickly or firefighters need to rescue your pet. If your cat hates the carrier, have alternative carry methods such as a secure cardboard box or a knotted pillowcase. If your cat has not had to travel in a carrier, or if your cat hates the carrier, try to acclimate your cat to it by leaving a carrier out at all times. If you have a carrier that comes apart easily, you can take the top off and convert it into a bed with a cushion or soft blanket. You may try feeding your cat meals in the carrier to decrease the negative feelings your cat may associate with it. Practice putting your cat in a carrier at times other than when you plan to take them to the veterinary hospital, so that they learn that not every trip in the carrier ends with shots!
• Pets Can't Escape a Burning Home on their Own - If you have a home security system, you may want to install monitored smoke detectors which are connected to monitoring center personnel that call the fire department. Or, if you do not have or want a home security system, a product such as the Nest Protect will send you notifications on your Smart Phone when smoke or carbon monoxide are detected in your home and no one is home.
• Keep Your Information Updated - Firefighters are familiar with pet alert window clings so keep the number of pets listed on them updated. Knowing the accurate number of pets in the house aids rescuers in finding all of your pets. Also make sure to keep your pets' microchip information up to date in case they escape your home on their own. While you can't track them, you have an 86% greater chance of finding them if they have a microchip versus those pets that do not. If you have recently moved or changed your phone number or email address, take a moment and update that information with your microchip company. If your pet is not currently microchipped, you may want to think about having it done.
• Summer is Grilling Season! - Be aware of your pets around the grill, as well! June and July are the peak months for grilling accidents. Your cat may try to jump on the grill and investigate that yummy cedar-planked salmon or sink their claws into those just baby back ribs!