Top 8 Human Drug Poisons

Did you know that many of the medications we take at home, both prescription and over the counter can be very dangerous for our beloved pets?

We have compiled a list of the top 8 human drug poisons below along with some of the side effects they may unfortunately cause.  It is very important that if your pet has taken any of these medications, or any other human medications that you contact your local Veterinary Clinic or Veterinary Emergency Centre as soon as possible for help and advice.

Always keep medications safely out of reach of pets and never administer a human medication to your pet without Veterinary advice.

1.      Anti-inflammatories:

Human anti-inflammatories, including the group known as NSAID’s (non steroidal anti-inflammatories) can be very dangerous for your pet. These include the commonly taken medication Ibuprofen (nurofen / advil).  Even a small amount of these types of medications can cause serious harm to pets.  Dogs, cats, birds and other small mammals may develop kidney failure and intestinal ulcers.

2.      Cold and flu tablets: 

Most cold and flu medications contain paracetamol (ie Panadol) and they should never be given to pets, especially cats.  Even small amounts of paracetamol can damage a cat’s red blood cells, making it difficult for their blood to carry oxygen around their body and cause liver failure.  It can also cause liver damage in dogs.  Many cold and flu tablets also contain pseudoephedrine.  Even a small amount may cause behaviour changes, panting, fast heart rate and blood pressure and can be lethal.

3.      Antidepressants:

While some antidepressant medication are occasionally used in pets, overdoses can lead to serious health problems.  Most commonly, pets will develop neurological symptoms such as incoordination, sedation, tremors and even seizures.  Not all depress the nervous system though, some antidepressants can stimulate it which may result in a dangerously high heart rate, body temperature and blood pressure.

4.      ADD/ADHD drugs:

Medications such as Adderall and Ritalin can cause high body temperatures, heart problems, drooling, gastro intestinal upsets and life threatening seizures even in very small amounts

5.      Asthma inhalers:

Although some asthma medications are also used in pets, they are used in a very low dose.  If your dog chews into an inhaler, they can breathe in massive doses at once (sometimes up to 200 times the recommended dose!) which can result in severe poisoning.  Side effects may include vomiting, a life threateningly high heart rate, collapse and even death.

6.      Heart medications:

Heart medications can come in many forms including ACE-inhibitors, Beta-blockers and Calcium Channel Blockers.  As with many other medications, these are often also used in Veterinary medicine to help treat pets with similar diseases however accidental overdose of all 3 can result in life threatening poisonings.  Overdoses may cause severely low heart rates and blood pressure, lethargy, weakness, gastro-intestinal upsets and kidney damage.

7.      Birth control:

Birth control pills contain the hormones estrogen, estradiol and progesterone.  Small amounts do not often cause too much trouble however larger amounts of estrogen and estradiol can cause bone marrow suppression in dogs, cats and especially birds.  Entire female pets have a higher risk of side effects from estrogen poisoning. 

8.      Thyroid hormones:

Thankfully these medications don’t often cause problems in pets however large overdoses in cats and dogs may result in muscle tremors, panting and a fast heart rate.