Prevention is the best way to avoid a poisoning incident. Be aware of the dangers to your Yorkie and have emergency medical treatment supplies on hand. I suggest having a home emergency medical kit on hand and stocked in case of any kind of emergency.

Symptoms:

There are 2 types of poisoning to consider: contact poisoning (on the skin or eyes, etc.) and internal poisoning (ingestion of a toxic or harmful substance). For contact poisoning, symptoms are usually burning, itching, redness, swelling, or other obvious signs of skin irritation or chemical burns. The symptoms of internal poisoning in Yorkies are varied, depending on the substance ingested. Generally, the symptoms are vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and related symptoms.

Treatment:

If you need emergency assistance, see your vet as soon as possible. If that is not possible, you can do your best to treat it at home. The first step is to identify the specific substance that your Yorkie has come in contact with; this will help in treatment.

For contact poisoning, you must thoroughly wash off any poison. To do this, rinse the area that was in contact with the poison for 30 minutes with large amounts of water. Next, give your Yorkie a full bath with lukewarm water. Even if the substance your Yorkie came into contact with is not irritating to the skin, you should still thoroughly wash the area; Your Yorkie may lick the area and ingest some of the poison.

In the case of internal poisoning, it is generally best to induce vomiting as soon as possible after ingesting the substance. DO NOT induce vomiting in the following cases:

– your Yorkie has already vomited

– there is evidence of neurological involvement (stumbling, respiratory disorders, etc.)

– your Yorkie is unconscious

– if your Yorkie has swallowed something sharp that could lodge in the esophagus or could

tear the stomach

– if the poison swallowed is an acid, alkali, cleaning product, household chemical, petroleum product or any substance that the label says “Do not induce vomiting” In these cases, the substance could cause burns in the throat and vomiting could generate more damage. Instead, go to the vet as soon as possible and give your Yorkie 30 ml milk or water for every 6 pounds of body weight.

If you have determined that you must induce vomiting, the best way to do this is with a 3% solution of hydrogen peroxide at 1/2 teaspoon per 5 pounds of body weight (a good thing to keep in your emergency medical kit) . Repeat the dose every 15 to 20 minutes, up to three times, until your Yorkie vomits. Walking after each dose can help further induce vomiting.

DO NOT use Ipecac unless specifically instructed to do so by your vet. Ipecac can be dangerous in dogs.

After your Yorkie vomits, it is important to avoid further absorption of any remaining poison in the stomach. You can do this by giving activated charcoal or a mixture of milk and egg whites.

The most effective treatment is activated charcoal, which you can get in 5-gram compressed tablets. ½ tablet for every 5 pounds of body weight is the typical dose. There is a liquid activated charcoal product available, but it is really tricky and difficult to get into a Yorkie without the help of a stomach tube. So, get the tablets for emergency use at home and keep them in your Yorkie’s emergency medical kit.

If you don’t have charcoal available, you can give it a mixture of milk and egg whites to coat the stomach and prevent absorption of the remaining poison. 1/8 cup of milk and 1/8 cup of egg whites for every 5 pounds of body weight is the dose. Use a plastic syringe to administer the mixture inside your Yorkie’s cheek.

After any home treatment, see your vet as soon as possible for further treatment.

What is poisonous:

The list of things that are poisonous to dogs is very long, and I am going to try to list as many as I can.

Household and environmental hazards:

– Common pain relievers such as Advil (ibuprofen) and Tylenol (acetaminophen)

-Other human medications, both over-the-counter and prescription (when in doubt, induce vomiting)

-Poisons for rodents as anticoagulants and hypercalcemic agents

-Antifreeze

– Poisonous baits such as rodents and snails.

-Insecticides

– Garbage: especially rotten food contaminated with mold or bacteria.

-Most household chemicals such as cleaning products, deodorants, hair coloring, mothballs, nail polish, etc.

– Petroleum products such as gasoline, kerosene, turpentine, etc.

-Lead (can be found in things like fishing weights, some paint, linoleum, drywall, batteries, and other products)

-Zinc (found in post-1982 pennies, hardware, nuts and bolts, and whatnot)

Toad and salamander poisoning: Colorado River toad (native to the Southwest and Hawaii), marine toad (native to Florida), and California newt (native to California)

Food hazards:

-Chocolate (as little as 4 ounces of bakery chocolate can be lethal to a Yorkie)

Raisins and grapes (as little as 1 ounce can cause kidney failure in Yorkies)

-Macadamia nuts (as little as 1/2 ounce can cause temporary paralysis in a Yorkie)

-Garlic (1/2 teaspoon can destroy red blood cells in a Yorkie)

-Onions and Onion Powder

-Active yeast and raw bread dough

-Wild cherry

-Almond

-Apricot

-Balsam pear

-Japanese plum

-Coffee grains

-Tomato and potato leaves and stems

-Avocados

-Pear and peach pits

-Rhubarb

-Spinach

-Mushrooms (if they are also toxic to humans)

-Alcohol

-Xylitol (an artificial sweetener found in some sugarless chewing gums)

Plant hazards:

Indoor plants that can be toxic:

Amaryllis

Arrowhead vine

Asparagus fern

Azalea

Bird from paradise

Boston ivy

Caladium

Calla lily or arum

Chrysanthemum

Charlie crawling

Creeping fig

Crown of thorns

Dembcane (diffenbachia)

Elephant ear

Emerald duke

Heart Leaf (Philodendron)

Ivy species

Cat in the pulpit

Jerusalem cherry

Majesty

Malanga

Marble queen

Mother-in-law plant

Neththyis

Nightshade

Living room ivy

Poinsettia

Pot mom

Potos or devil’s lily

Red princess

Wavy ivy

Saddle leaf (philodendron)

Spider mom

Split blade (filondendro)

Sprangeri fern

Tuberous begonia

Umbrella plant

Weeping fig

Outdoor plants that can be toxic:

Almonz

American yew

Trumpet of angels

Apricot

Azalea (rhododendron)

Balsam pear

Shrub bird of paradise

Bittersweet woody

Horse chestnut

Gold button

Beans

Cherry

Chinaberry

Coriaria

Daffodil

Larkspur

Dologeton

Dutch breeches

English holly

English yew

Foxglove

Ground cherry

Horse chestnut

Indian tobacco

Indian turnip

Japanese plum

Jasmine

Jimsonweed

Woody larkspur

Locoweed

Lupine

Marijuana

Marriage vine

May apple

Mezcal bean

Orange mock

Monkey sheath

Moon seed

Morning glory

Mushrooms

Nightshade

Nutmeg

Nux vomica

peach

Periwinkle

Peyote

Pigweed

Poisonous hemlock

Poke marijuana

poppy

Henna

Rain tree

Rhubarb

Skunk cabbage

Soap

Spinach

Sunburned potato

Tomato vine

Water hemlock

Black lobster yew

Wild cherry

Wisteria

More help:

If your Yorkie has possibly been poisoned and you are not sure what to do, the ASPCA has an Animal Poison Control Center available 24 hours a day. Their hotline number is (888) 426-4435. There is a consultation fee of $ 60 per incident, and the fee can be applied to your credit card. There is also great information on their website at http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/.