How Pet Insurance Statistics Can Help You Prevent Accidentally Poisoning Your Pet

How many of the things in the list below were you aware of before reading this article that can either poison your pet or make your pet sick so that you might have to visit your veterinarian or emergency clinic?

 

Deadly Dark Chocolate Contributes to 100,000 Cases of Pet Poisoning in the U.S. According to Embrace Pet Insurance

NEW YORK, Mar 01, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- --Can a little table-side reward really hurt your dog?

Embrace Pet Insurance has opened up their database to reveal the human foods that poison the most pets the company insures, ahead of Poison Prevention Week.

Chocolate tops the list of food accident claims received by the Embrace Pet Insurance, followed by raisins and mushrooms.

Last year, there were more than 100,000 cases of pet poisoning in the U.S. Many of these were caused by substances commonly contained in the home. Poison Prevention Week covers all forms of poisoning, and Embrace is keen to ensure part of the spotlight is focused on pets.

Laura Bennett CEO & Co-Founder of Embrace says: "Raising awareness of everyday hazards in your own pantry can help prevent undue distress to the nation's pets."

The top 20 items from Embrace's claims in order of frequency were:

        1) Chocolate
        2) Raisins
        3) Mushrooms
        4) Xylitol (sweetener)
        5) Grapes
        6) Vitamins
        7) Gum
        8) Bones
        9) Chicken
        10) Macadamia Nuts
        11) Sugar
        12) Bread
        13) Cake
        14) Coffee
        15) Corn Cobs
        16) Dough
        17) Meat
        18) Rawhide
        19) Salmon
        20) Avacado
Pet poisoning symptoms can include gastrointestinal and neurological problems, cardiac and respiratory distress, coma, and even death. Symptoms depend on the item and quantity ingested or inhaled, and the physiological response of each animal can vary.

Laura went on to say: "If you do want to give your pet a treat, most dogs are fine eating lean cuts of meat as long as they have been properly cooked and thoroughly cooled. You can further decrease the opportunity of food related problems by removing all visible fat -- including the skin on poultry and ensuring that there are no bones in meat before you give it to your dog."

SOURCE: Embrace Pet Insurance