Jennifer Owen never expected to spend part of Valentine’s Day on the phone with the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC).
“I went to the gym and forgot that I put a new candy bowl out with chocolate heart candies wrapped in aluminum foil,” Owen says. “When I got home, the now-empty bowl was on the floor.”
Even worse, Owen didn’t know which one of her dogs was the culprit. “I had three Labradors and no idea what combination of them ate the chocolate,” she said.
It turns out that Owen may not have been the only worried dog mom on the phone with pet poison control that day. Dogs who gulp down chocolate are among the most common calls to the APCC hotline.
“What we call the chocolate holidays tend to be busier: Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas,” says veterinarian Tina Wismer, senior director of toxicology at the APCC. “Anytime there’s chocolate left out, dogs will find it.”
Dogs have a keen knack for finding, opening, and devouring many things they aren’t supposed to.
The APCC received more than 451,000 calls from pet parents last year who needed immediate answers: Could what their dog gobbled down cause a life-threatening problem? The organization crunched its data and just released its annual list of the top ten toxins that pets managed to ingest the most.
The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center
The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center has more than 50 veterinarians and 120 support staff, all trained in toxicology, working around the clock, day and night.
For a $95 consultation fee, an APCC case worker takes detailed information from pet parents, including a dog’s weight, what they ate, and the quantity.
Even if a dog wolfed down multiple types of products (as this author’s dog did once: a box of chocolate chip cookies and a box of fiber bars), the APCC likely has each item’s ingredients in their database, which was started in the 1970s. It includes thousands of household products, foods, plants, toxins, and medications that dogs decided were edible.
The staff calculates the risk and gives pet caregivers advice—which generally ranges from “Your dog will likely be fine” to “Watch for these signs of trouble” or “Head to the animal ER right now!” The APCC assigns each case an ID number, which is crucial to give the medical team if treatment is needed. Many veterinarians rely on the APCC’s expertise.
“Sometimes people come to the emergency room after their dog eats something that we’re not 100% familiar with,” says emergency room veterinarian Carly Fox with the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center in New York City. “We have the owners call pet poison control in the waiting room so we can contact their experts afterward. It is absolutely worth the call; it’s truly unbelievable how much the APCC knows.”
The APCC also knows what lifestyle trends are going on in peoples’ homes across the country by crunching the top calls they receive.
“What is happening in veterinary medicine reflects what’s happening on the human side of things,” Dr. Wismer says. “During COVID, we had a ton of animals being exposed to cleaning products. Since COVID has ended, cleaning product calls dropped.”
The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center’s Top Calls
So, what are the top calls pet parents and caregivers made to the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center? What is toxic to dogs? What is poisonous to dogs?
Here’s what topped the charts in 2024.
1. Over-the-Counter Medications
Calls about pets chomping down over-the-counter medications, like dietary supplements, vitamins, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) pain medications like ibuprofen and naproxen, have remained steady over the last few years as the number one call the APCC receives.
The ingredients in some dietary supplements may be helpful for humans, but they can be dangerous to dogs, and certain over-the-counter pain medications can be so hazardous that some dog ingestion cases Dr. Fox gets make her cringe.
“NSAID toxicity can be really bad,” Dr. Fox says. “It depends on how much the dog ingests and their weight, but it can cause GI upset, that can progress to GI ulceration, bleeding, acute kidney failure, and in really severe cases, it can cause seizures, comas, and death.”
2. Human Food and Drinks
Pets that gobble down food and drinks made for people held their spot at number two on the list from years past.
What are the most toxic foods for dogs? Gum, candy, and products containing the artificial sweetener xylitol, grapes, raisins, garlic, and onions.
And it’s not only onions that can cause problems. “Leeks, shallots, chives, and other foods that are part of the allium family all have a compound called N-propyl disulfide that can damage red blood cells and make your animal fairly sick if ingested at high enough doses,” Dr. Fox says.
3. Human Prescription Medications
Calls from people saying, “My dog ate my medication,” remained in the third spot this year. Pets who ingested heart, antidepressant, and ADHD medications were the most common cases.
The APCC says they’re seeing a trend with some callers saying, “Oh my gosh! My dog got into my grandma’s purse and ate her pills!” These stories are a good reminder that not all guests may realize some dogs are curious, always-hungry, nosy foragers who will investigate anything new in their homes.
“Visitors, like grandma or your child’s friends, may not know that their purse or backpack on the floor can be very dangerous,” Dr. Wismer says. “Not only do you have to train the people in your household not to leave anything your dog can get into around, but you also need to train your guests.”
4. Chocolate
As Owen learned, chocolate is a dog fan favorite and is fourth on the APCC’s list.
Dark and baking chocolate are typically the most dangerous to dogs due to the higher amounts of caffeine and theobromine, a compound in cocoa plants. These ingredients can cause dehydration, an increased heart rate, blood pressure spikes, and even seizures.
When it comes to chocolate (and human food), don’t underestimate a dog’s creativity and drive to get what they want.
“The other day, we had a call, and a dog literally slid a chair across the floor so he could hop onto the chair, then onto the table to eat brownies,” Dr. Wismer says. “Sometimes they’re smarter than we are, so you need to protect yourself and protect them as best you can.”
5. Veterinary Products
Veterinary products for pets are number five on the list. This one is a good news, bad news situation: More and more pet medications smell yummy and enticing so dogs eat them, but that can become a problem.
“Many people have a difficult time giving their dog pills,” Dr. Wismer says. “So, they make some very tasty and flavorful so the dog will take them easily. But we’re seeing an increase in animals ingesting higher doses because we’re making more chewable formulations. That means, if you don’t put that bottle away, they could eat the entire bottle of pills.”
Other Top Pet Poisoning Concerns
Other top-ranking pet poisoning calls to the APCC included insecticides, rodenticides (rat and mouse poison), household products, cleaners, batteries, recreational drugs, fungi, and plants.
Hydrangeas, tulips, daffodils, and sago palms are all some of the top poisonous plants for dogs.
Swift Action is the Best Antidote
Of course, prevention, supervision, and management are the best ways to avoid having a dog poison control emergency, but it can take a split second for a pooch to eat something that mistakenly falls on the floor, a toddler gives him, or he finds on the street during a walk. Weird, unexpected, and bizarre things happen to even the best pet parents.
If a dog does manage to consume something suspicious or worrisome, immediately call the APCC, a veterinarian, or an animal hospital. The sooner a dog gets help, the better the outcome will be.
“We may be able to induce vomiting or give a dose of activated charcoal to stop the absorption of whatever they ate,” Dr. Wismer says. “But once they’re already having problems, once they’re symptomatic, that limits what we can do.”Up to 10% of the cases Dr. Fox handles in the emergency room daily involve dogs that have swallowed something toxic or poisonous.
She says some of her most heartbreaking cases are when pet parents avoid bringing their dogs to the ER because they fear the cost. If a dog is in danger, waiting will only risk their lives, which could result in an even more significant medical bill.
“It kills me when people don’t bring their dog in right away because our biggest ability to save your dog’s life is within the first couple of hours of ingestion,” Dr. Fox says. “There are so many things we can do to try to prevent that toxicity from progressing. Some people come in and say, ‘My dog ate all this ibuprofen yesterday.’ Well, it’s now too late. So, we cross our fingers and do what we can.”
Peace of Mind
In Jennifer’s case, she quickly got on the phone with the APCC and brought peace of mind. Fortunately, she still had the candy bag and could tell her case worker precisely what was eaten. The toxicology team calculated her dogs’ weights and the amount of missing chocolate and let her know she didn’t need to load her four-legged crew in the car and race them to the ER.
“Thankfully, the bag was small, and even if one of them ate the entire bag, they were still in the ‘safe’ with a likely tummy ache zone,” Owen said. “I found the culprit through some shimmery, decorative, foil-filled poop.”
