Holiday Pet Safety: Hidden Hazards You’re Not Prepared For

Episode Title

Hidden Holiday Hazards Your Guests Bring Into Your Home

Host

Amy Castro

Guest

Dr. ARESUE (Zoo) SHOKROLLAHI,  DVM, Family Animal Hospital

Summary

The holidays are full of obvious pet dangers like chocolate and tinsel, but some of the most serious risks actually walk in the door with your guests. In this episode, veterinarian Dr. Zoo joins Amy to unpack the hidden hazards that come from relatives, purses, suitcases, vintage decorations, batteries, salt dough, yeast dough, and more. They walk through what real toxicity looks like in pets, how timing affects treatment, when to induce vomiting, and when to call your vet or ASPCA Poison Control.

Links

This episode page
Hidden Holiday Hazards Your Guests Bring Into Your Home
https://www.petparenthotline.com/holiday-hazards-uncommon-pet-dangers

Related episode
Holiday Hazards That Could Harm Your Pet
https://www.petparenthotline.com/holiday-hazards-that-could-harm-your-pet/

ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control
Phone: (888) 426-4435 (consultation fee applies)

Recommended Resources

• Your regular veterinarian or local emergency veterinary hospital
• ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center, available 24/7 at (888) 426-4435

Affiliate Disclosure

Some resources we share may be affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you choose to make a purchase. This comes at no additional cost to you and helps support the show.

Veterinary Disclaimer

The information in this episode and transcript is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional veterinary advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your own veterinarian or an emergency veterinary clinic if you have concerns about your pet’s health or suspect a poisoning.

Transcript Note

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity, flow, and readability.

Chapters / Time Hacks

00:00 – Teaser and show intro
01:00 – Holiday Hazards 2.0 and what’s different this year
03:00 – Cousin “Mellow Mike”: marijuana, edibles, nicotine products
09:15 – Grandma’s traveling pharmacy and ASPCA Poison Control
13:00 – Aunt Helen’s vintage décor: snow globes and bubble lights
16:30 – Techie Tom’s gadgets and battery dangers
19:00 – Kitchen trouble: salt dough, yeast dough, vomiting and timing
27:00 – Universal warning signs, prevention, and final takeaways 

Transcript

Amy Castro (00:00.258)
You’ve already heard a hundred times about the common holiday hazards, and we even did an episode on them two years ago. But what you might not know is that even if you’ve prepped your house for the holidays, the real dangers can show up with your guests. Today, veterinarian Dr. Zoo from Family Animal Hospital and I will take a tour through your family and break down the sneaky, unexpected things they might bring into your home. Plus, the toxicity signs you need to catch early, and a special resource that could save your pet’s life.
So stay tuned.

Amy Castro (00:35.832)
You’ve reached the Pet Parent Hotline, your lifeline to practical solutions for your toughest pet parenting challenges. I’m your host, Amy Castro, and I’m here to help you cut through the noise and turn expert advice into step-by-step strategies so you can stop chasing your tail and start enjoying life with pets again.

Amy Castro (01:00.856)
Couple of years ago, we covered all the usual holiday hazards in pretty great detail with an ER vet. By now, you know the basics, right? Chocolate, grapes, tinsel, tree water, all the standard stuff that can hurt your pet. But today, we’re gonna turn the spotlight to things that people might not think about. So this is Holiday Hazards 2.0, the sneaky, surprising risks that your guests bring right through your front door. From your cousin Mike’s special treats to grandma’s traveling pharmacy of a purse, to Aunt Judy’s vintage decorations, and more. There are hazards that don’t even look like hazards.

Most importantly, we’re gonna talk about what toxicity actually looks like in pets, so you’ll know when something’s off and when it’s time to act.

Dr. Ziva, welcome back to the show. And happy holidays. Okay, not hazardous holidays.

Dr. Zoo
Thank you for having me on. I appreciate it. Happy holidays. Hopefully not for our good friends. Let’s help people stay out of trouble.

Amy Castro
That’s definitely a thing. So first of all, tell us where we are. We’ve got this lovely background.

Dr. Zoo
This is background on my anesthetic monitor here, but we’re actually in our surgery suite. And what I’m hoping is none of the patients during the holidays have a reason to be here, especially foreign bodies and other things like that. So I think we’ve got a good list of things to talk about to avoid trouble.

Amy Castro (02:15.630)
Yes, let’s stay out of trouble. As much as I love you, I don’t want to see you on Christmas.

Dr. Zoo
Same feeling, same feeling.

Amy Castro
All right. So we’re going to do this a little bit different than we’ve done episodes in the past where we just kind of list off, here’s what it is, here’s why it’s dangerous. We’re going to have a little fun with it, because I’m going to go with the assumption that you’ve already seen or heard our episode about holiday hazards. And we’ll put a link to that episode.

We talked about the common ones like chocolate, like tinsel for your cats, and we listed a whole bunch of other things. So this is the 2.0 holiday hazard version. So it’s going to be the test. It’s going to be the test.

And what we’re going to do is we’re going to assume you’ve done a great job of pet proofing and making your house nice and safe for your pets over the holidays. But the one thing that you can’t necessarily control are those pesky holiday guests.

Dr. Zoo (03:07.916)
You can’t have holidays without the guests.

Amy Castro
Well, you could try.

Dr. Zoo
Yeah.

Amy Castro
You might be forced to have them. So we’re just going to tour through the family and talk about some of the things that they might bring. And I’m sure these are not your relatives.

Dr. Zoo
No. All of mine have run away from family feuds. We’re good. We’re good.

Amy Castro
All right. So let’s start off and talk about everybody’s got that cousin. We’re just going to call him Mellow Mike. You know, the guy who always has a little something something extra to make the holidays especially merry. What would be some of the things that he might bring that could be dangerous to our pets?

Dr. Zoo (03:46.662)
There’s such a variety of things that Mellow Mike could bring from the traditional smokable herbs. Marijuana is the one we’re talking about. But now, as you all know, there are so many varieties of these things, from chewies and gums and treats and chocolates and brownies.

And pets like those sweet versions just like we do. Okay, maybe not the part with the herbs, but at least the sweet part of it. And so if they’re exposed, they’re going to be tempted to take a bite of that brownie. Or if you drop a little something on the ground, they might scoop it up before you do. So THC and marijuana are often products in those special treats that Mike might bring.

Amy Castro
Yeah, so you need to have the equivalent of a TSA screening booth at your front door and make sure you watch Mike, you know, check his eyes and see before he offers a brownie. And is he winking when he’s saying, “Here’s my special recipe,” or something like that? It could get your pets into big trouble.

What would be some signs if our pets, like maybe he didn’t tell us he brought one of these things? He’s got them in his suitcase and the dog moseys in, which is why we always keep the bedroom doors…

Dr. Zoo (05:00.236)
Yes, keep them closed, keep things up on shelves. Yeah, I think the first signs are real subtle. The pet may be more quiet, a little more sleepy. You’re kind of going, “Where is Fluffy? What’s he up to?”

When you find that pet, sometimes you start to try to get them to get up, go for a potty break, and you’ll notice they have a little wobbly walk or sway when they’re walking.

Amy Castro
So basically they’re acting stoned.

Dr. Zoo (05:33.356)
They’re acting drunken, stoned. Yes, exactly. And so that’s sort of the first step. They often have some kind of hyper reaction, maybe the paranoia that we talk about, to certain noises. So if you clap your hands suddenly, sometimes they do a weird twitch, but then they just immediately melt into that sleepy phase and posture and mentation again.

So if you see that, obviously they’re not reacting or responding to you like they normally would. If you said, “Hey, let’s go potty, let’s have a treat,” that might be a sign that they got into a toxin.

And I apologize for laughing about it because it is kind of funny the way that we’re talking about it, but it’s not going to be funny if your pet gets into a lot of that.

The higher doses can be even deadlier doses. We’ve seen hypoglycemia. We’ve seen coma type of behaviors. The size of your pet matters, you know, little dorkie versus a German Shepherd. Obviously, the dose in this case is dose dependent for the kind of toxin response that we see in those cases.

So we do want to, if we find such a thing out, we do want to try to get to it as quickly as possible, because sometimes you’ll see it before the signs. And that’s really going to be sort of a theme through a lot of these toxins, that the sooner you find the problem, the quicker you can evacuate their stomach. That means force them to vomit.

A lot of times that can prevent the actual symptoms and the side effects of it being truly absorbed. So if we can get it out of their stomach before it’s absorbed, or the majority is absorbed, the better. We can avoid some of the life threatening signs.

Amy Castro
And better safe than sorry. I know one Thanksgiving was sort of ruined for us when we thought that the dogs had gotten into rat poison, of all things. That’s a whole other story. But it’s like, you don’t want to sit around and wait and see what happens with something like that. So it can be very dicey.

What about the cousin that’s quitting smoking, with the nicotine patches or even vape?

Dr. Zoo (07:25.262)
Yeah, well, anything with nicotine is a stimulant and can make the heart race, and those animals might look more like they’re trembling and hyper. Maybe they’re salivating. Sometimes if you notice that they’re a little more agitated, like if another animal comes up, or another dog or cat they’re normally fine with, and they’re kind of agitated toward that animal, you might actually put your hand on their chest and you might feel their heart racing. It feels like a kick drum in there.

If you feel that, if you see that your animal is tense or shaking, drooling, I would say again, get to the ER as quick as possible so that you can have their stomach evacuated.

They will probably, if you’re already seeing those symptoms, those animals usually get hospitalized with calming medications. Anything from just IV fluids to help flush out the toxin out of their system, to sedatives of different kinds and arrays, depending on how they respond to those, or even muscle relaxants, because some of those animals will actually tremor into almost a seizure type of behavior. And they can overheat, that sort of thing. So you’ll see that.

Another common theme that we’re going to be sharing throughout this is there is the ASPCA Poison Control Hotline. And they have basically toxin experts that will help you and the veterinarian figure out, you know, how much is the dose that my pet could have gotten into, the max and the minimum, what are the anti toxic medicines we could use, and then basically calculate those things based on your pet’s weight.

It’s very specific and they have some of the newest studies that are out there. There are a lot of tools because there are so many kinds of toxins. We’ve had to come out with so many new tools for that and the ASPCA organizes all that. So it’s really nice that their 1 800 PET POISON Hotline number is available to all.

There is a fee. It’s very much worth the fee. I think it’s less than 100 dollars last I checked.

Amy Castro
Cheaper than an emergency visit.

Dr. Zoo (09:16.270)
Yes. They might get you started and they might actually help guide you that this is going to be something you do not have to go to the vet for. But many times, if it is, you want them in your corner and we want them in our pockets too. In fact, if you haven’t called by the time you get to a facility, likely we’ll be the ones calling on your behalf. And of course, you know, there are definitely charges related to that. Again, worth every penny because it could save your pet’s life.

Amy Castro
So we’ve picked on our cousin enough. Sorry. What about grandma? So grandma may come with a purse load or a suitcase full of her medications.

Dr. Zoo
Yeah, just as we all get older, we need more meds to keep us going.

Amy Castro
That’s right. And the one thing I would say, and you can correct me if I’m wrong, but it could be such a wide array of things, it’s not like you could say, here’s the exact sign to know that they got into your grandma’s medication. But let’s say we discover the pill bottle, and I can guarantee you your grandma very unlikely has any idea how many pills were left in that bottle. That’s the one that’s always dicey. I couldn’t even tell you what’s in my medication bottle right now. I could give you a ballpark, but…

Dr. Zoo (10:37.826)
Yeah, no. You shake it, it sounds like a week, you know. That’s not very accurate.

Yeah, so that’s the neat thing. The hotline, the Poison Control Hotline, will actually say, “Okay, well, what’s the max number on the bottle?” And then they’ll give you some ranges so you can kind of match your symptoms with what you’re seeing and what their exposure is.

They have their ways to do a worst-case scenario treatment plan and a best-case scenario treatment plan. But yeah, grandma wouldn’t know. I mean, she’d just like you to get there on time and enjoy the festivities.

Amy Castro
There you go. Without sharing her pills.

Dr. Zoo
Yeah. So definitely, I don’t know that you have to frisk grandma at the door, but maybe, you know, help her put her stuff away. Make sure that her purse or wherever she keeps her medication, just ask her and put that up on a high dresser or something, and then hope that your cats don’t collude into knocking that off. That’s why we shut the bedroom doors. Keep the animals out of the bedroom.

Amy Castro
Yeah, there you go.

On the list with grandma, we did talk about the sugar free gums and mints and things like that. We talked about that in the previous episode, but there’s just going to be a lot of possibilities, whether it’s stuff that Santa brings and puts in stockings or stuff that grandma has in her purse.

Dr. Zoo (12:12.600)
Yeah, anything out of the ordinary is what you want to look for. Obviously, if their behavior is changing, if they’re hiding, if they’re a little bit more anxious, if there’s vomiting. Sometimes what’s in the bottles isn’t the problem; it’s the bottle itself. They ate this much of the bottle, and the plastic can act like a foreign body itself.

So again, that’s where the vomiting or the appetite loss might come into play. If you do find, let’s say, maybe you’re worried about the medication, but you see that the bottle is destroyed, try to put the pieces back and see how much bottle is possibly swallowed versus it just got destroyed.

So that really does help decide, is this piece small enough that this pet is going to pass it the natural way, or is it going to be big enough that it could cause a blockage? So not only do we want you to get a list of what might have been medicines or gums or chews or things like that in grandma’s purse, but we also want you to look at the bottles and the contents, and what could possibly get stuck in the intestines as well.

Amy Castro (13:04.298)
I didn’t even think about that. And when you’re looking, you all know your pet’s behavior. My dogs are very likely to grab and run because they know if I catch them with whatever it is in their mouth, I’m going to take it. So they’re going to go and hide it somewhere.

So where are their hiding places? Because that’s where you may find that missing cap or that part of the bottle. And you don’t have to panic. Look around.

Dr. Zoo
Yeah, it’s always under the couch. Yeah, something like that.

Amy Castro
That’s right.

All right, so we’re going to be careful about grandma. So everybody probably has an Aunt Helen, you know, kind of the one that is the family… We can call her the historian if we want to be nice, or we can call her the family hoarder.

So let’s say that Aunt Helen has decided that she wants to bring along with her, maybe she’s going to give this to you as your inheritance, some old family heirloom type things.

And one of the things that I was reading about, which I was kind of shocked by: did you ever really think about what’s inside a snow globe? It just looks like a festive little toy, but you’re saying there’s a danger in there.

Dr. Zoo
It may not be just water inside that snow globe.

Amy Castro (13:46.958)
Okay, I’ve heard ethylene glycol is one.

Dr. Zoo (14:09.186)
Ethylene glycol is a toxin that basically, when they first ingest it, it’s okay, and then it gets digested in the liver and it becomes poisonous to both the liver and the kidneys. And it works fast and it works awfully in animals, in the sense that when you’re having both liver and kidney failure, you’re in big trouble.

It causes this crystallization in the kidneys, and that’s how it shuts the kidneys down. Treatment is important to get to it quickly. There are some neat remedies for that these days in our veterinary hospitals, but it really has to be caught within 24 hours. I think anything longer than that and it’s going to be a slow chance of surviving it. So we do want to try to get to that pet quickly.

Amy Castro
And before you go any further, ethylene glycol is basically the same thing that’s in antifreeze.

Dr. Zoo
That’s right. It is the same thing.

Amy Castro
So the same level of caution. If you happen to break a snow globe, I mean, I don’t think an animal is going to grab one and run off with it, but if one breaks, you’ve got to make sure you’re going to clean that up.

Dr. Zoo (14:49.858)
Right. And then same thing in antifreeze.

The tricky part is, for sure, the antifreeze that you buy for your vehicles has a sweet taste to it. I’m not sure about what the flavor of the globe is, but a lot of times if you’re paying attention to something, your animal wants to get to it, even if it doesn’t taste good. So definitely clean it up quickly.

Then whatever tools you’re using to clean that up, whether it’s rags or paper towels or whatever it might be, double bag and put it outside into the big trash bin because dogs also like to get into the trash can. So you might as well be extra cautious.

Amy Castro
Yeah, that’s a very good point because you have the glass too. You’re worried about them stepping in it. So make sure you get that cleaned up.

Another thing that has become sort of popular over the last maybe two years is, because people do like vintage stuff, some people do, is the bubble lights. And I don’t know… I guess it’s not really a matter of, you’re never going to really know what’s inside. Just go with the assumption.

Dr. Zoo
Right, go with the assumption there’s a chemical.

Amy Castro
Because it may or may not be, but better to be on the safe side.

Dr. Zoo
Yeah, so one of the ones that we were researching is this methylene chloride. And it can not only be a harsh chemical on the GI tract and basically cause chemical burns on the inside, but it can absorb into the bloodstream and actually keep you from absorbing oxygen into your bloodstream.

So yeah, we want to make sure anything that is an unusual chemical that allows something to be “vintage,” that means that this thing is still functioning that many years later. It’s probably going to be some pretty interesting chemicals to make 1950s glassware still do this crazy little bubble light thing.

So yeah, I would say be on the safe side, get that out of your home as quickly as possible, especially if it does break or fracture.

Amy Castro (16:29.632)
And those things would be a lot easier for an animal to grab. You’ve got those lights laying on the floor for them to grab and run off with and break it open.

Dr. Zoo
Maybe they just think you’re playing with a toy, as far as they’re concerned. Their curiosity can be really troublesome.

Amy Castro
So then there’s your brother-in-law, Techie Tom. And I know I said we weren’t going to repeat, and this is 2.0, but I feel like the issue of batteries… everything’s got batteries in it inside.

Dr. Zoo
There are so many types of batteries and many of them have hazards of their own. Yeah, from the chemicals within them, again, being a chemical burn source, to them being a foreign body, to some of the metals in there basically causing a blood poisoning that can cause anemia and life-threatening situations. And you can’t always tell it right away. Some of the chemicals you can, but the metals can take time for those metals to cause trouble over weeks, months even.

So if there is any chance that they’ve gotten into them, you want to know right away. The good thing is, most of them show up on X-rays.

Amy Castro (17:44.556)
Really?

Dr. Zoo
Wow, yeah, just bright on an x ray. Not all foreign items show up that well, but those are pretty telltale. So at least give yourself peace of mind, get an X-ray, and know that there’s not that metallic foreign body, which can later on cause the blood poisoning.

Amy Castro
And you’d think that your animals would be like, what would be attractive about that? But I’ve literally caught my dog chewing on a D battery. And it’s like, A, where did you get that? It came out of a flashlight that fell on the floor and didn’t get put back together. And it’s like, why are you chewing that?

Dr. Zoo
Yeah. I mean, I think anything that you’ve shown interest in, your pets will show interest in. I learned that the hard way. I’m a gardener. I’ll be working on planting a brand new fancy, expensive plant I decided to buy and put in.

And I come inside for a little water break, I come back outside and the German Shepherd has it in his mouth and is running around the yard. It’s a toy now because I paid attention to it. There are plenty of bushes in my yard that they completely ignored, but just because we’re interested, they want to be part of that excitement and that’s what gets them into trouble.

Amy Castro
Yeah. And I think some of them are just kind of indiscriminate. Like I noticed the other day, I had been giving my dog some medication and she’s so quick to grab something and swallow it that I thought, I’m not going to put this in a pill pocket, I’m just going to toss it in the air.

Dr. Zoo
Did it work?

Amy Castro
Yeah, it worked.

Dr. Zoo
All right.

Amy Castro
And then you have other ones, you know, we see the videos of, you hand the Golden Retriever the cheese and they’re like, “That is some suspicious looking cheese.” So some of them are smarter than others, let’s just say.

Dr. Zoo
Their greed gets them sometimes.

Amy Castro (19:00.750)
All right, so last but not least, we’re gonna go to the kitchen. And like I said, we’ve talked about chocolate and other things that can get pets in trouble. But something I was reading about recently was moms in the kitchen working with the kids, doing crafts or baking or whatever the case may be.

So salt dough, I guess it’s just kind of like homemade dough with salt.

Dr. Zoo
Yes, yes. So salt itself… I mean, I’m a salt fan, I’m the one shaking it all over the food, but at the higher concentrations, it can be really dangerous to the brain. It basically causes a swelling in the brain. As we know, water follows salt. So if you ingest too much salt and then you drink water on top of that, it follows the salt and causes the tissues of the brain to swell. And there’s not a lot of room in the skull.

So unfortunately, we’ll start seeing neurologic signs in those pets. Again, the sort of ataxic walk, we might see that, we might see some nausea and vomiting just from the salt and creating almost like an acid reflux. But that’s the minimum of the problems. The brain problems are the scary ones.

And so they have to be flushed out from salt in just the safe way. If you flush it out too quickly, actually adding water, that follows the salt and can worsen. So then it’s definitely something you and your veterinarian want to get to.

Just like before, the theme that we’re talking about is there are windows of time where you can help a pet vomit that sort of thing out before they absorb as much salt. So of course, if it’s stuck in the dough and you vomit a whole pile of dough, well, then hopefully you reduce the amount of salt that they’re going to absorb. Hopefully reduce or prevent some of those symptoms of salt toxicity.

So if they get into that play dough, the homemade play dough, or any salt… let’s say you spilled the salt shaker or let’s say they got the salt shaker off the table. Even, for example, going to the beach, and sometimes people do travel for holidays, and if they drink too much ocean water or salt water, you get the same effect.

Amy Castro (20:55.726)
Yeah, I had a friend that had a saltwater pool and the dog would just drink out of the pool and then he would throw up. And it was just like a thing.

Dr. Zoo
That’s not the best thing.

Amy Castro
Not the best though.

Dr. Zoo
At least he threw it up, but yeah, for sure. I mean, at some point you could risk that they would absorb too much salt and show these neurologic signs, which again is like a drunken walk. Sometimes they actually look like they have a headache. They’re kind of squinty eyed, looking at you like they’re in pain. And it easily shows up on blood testing if they have too much salt in their blood. Yeah, it’s a common test we do.

And then the other thing I was thinking about along the same kind of lines of baking is yeast. Yeast dough.

Amy Castro (22:14.732)
Yeah, you know…

Dr. Zoo
Yeah, if they get the whole entire container of that… let’s say you have the bread resting, I think is what they call it. I’m not a bread maker, I’m a bread eater.

Any of those things that can create more bubbles, because you can actually see what the yeast is doing to the bread itself, that can be happening on the inside. And gas can be painful, or even some animals are actually allergic to yeast and have vomiting or diarrhea.

So another reason I would say to go ahead and have that pet vomit so you won’t have to deal with the side effects of it. Mild things that can cause gas, you can actually treat with something like Gas X, over the counter, very safe.

Amy Castro
Like maybe they just get a yeast roll. Your German Shepherd gets a yeast roll worth a little ball.

Dr. Zoo
That’s right.

Amy Castro
Versus, “I ate a whole loaf of bread.”

Dr. Zoo
Exactly. So dose dependent. Yeah, I think that’s a good way to look at it for sure.

So yeah, if you gave a Gas X for a small amount like that, you’re probably good. But if you know your pet has eaten a whole loaf of yeast dough that’s been resting in a container, you may want to go ahead and see the veterinarian to prevent trouble.

That’s kind of the same thing with chocolate. I know we’ve covered that. But sometimes it’s not the chocolate, it’s all the butter and the sugar that’s in there. And even though maybe that amount of chocolate isn’t toxic, we may make a pet vomit to avoid the butter and sugar going through the intestines and changing up some of that bacteria that then causes diarrhea and vomiting, pancreatitis even.

So sometimes it’s worth it to cause that pet to vomit and prevent the long-term issue of that toxin making its way throughout the GI tract.

We also use charcoal too.

Amy Castro (23:57.646)
Now, when you’re talking about making them vomit, I had a Doberman Pinscher that ate lots of things. So we kept an industrial-sized bottle of hydrogen peroxide in the house.

Is it safe to say, I know my dog ate too much of that dough. Even if it’s not a deadly dose, but I just don’t want to deal with the aftermath of all of that. Or is it better to just leave that to the professionals?

Dr. Zoo (25:47.534)
You know, no matter what treatments of any kind you do, even when you’re a veterinary professional doing it, there’s always risk associated. If we induce vomiting using injectable medicine, or sometimes we have special drops you can put in the eye that induce vomiting, it’s never zero risk.

For example, they could maybe accidentally inhale or aspirate some of that vomit. So we have to decide, is that risk smaller than the risk of them ingesting this poison and what it could do to them? And those are pretty rare things that happen, as far as aspirating with vomiting.

So the same risk can happen at home. In a certain scenario, like, I’m going to be more than two hours away from my regular vet or a veterinarian, I may need to go ahead and induce vomiting. When I call pet Poison Control, they might say, “Yeah, grab that hydrogen peroxide. I want you to do that, because by the time you get to your vet, they’re already going to absorb a toxic dose. So let’s do this now together. The risk is less.”

They’ll probably say, “These are the risks,” over the phone, just like all the legal talk we have to do. But I would say in a certain scenario like that, I would definitely have hydrogen peroxide close by.

Another thing is, there are certain breeds that are more risky to aspirate, and that’s your brachycephalic. So like your Bulldogs and your Frenchies, they have sort of already a deformed-shaped airway. And so they’re more likely to have aspiration. That would be one where, if it’s within a safe time limit, I would try to get to a regular veterinarian.

While a Dobie or Shepherd or somebody with the longer nose, they handle vomiting better and more naturally than some of the dogs that are not built that way.

So yeah, hydrogen peroxide can be helpful. And at the very least, if you can’t get your vet on the phone, I do think your Poison Control Hotline can help.

Amy Castro
Yeah, that’s what I forgot about. You can always get that advice first before you take any action.

Dr. Zoo (25:47.534)
Time is of the essence a lot of times, and that will be a great way to take advantage of that knowledge they have.

Amy Castro
For all these holiday hazards, is there a rule of thumb so that we don’t miss an early sign?

Dr. Zoo (27:07.534)
Yeah. I mean, I think the rule of thumb is between one and two hours as far as ingesting a toxin or a medication. Things like aspirin or an ibuprofen or something like that, those drugs tend to not have coatings on them. They absorb pretty fast. So I’d say within an hour or so.

Things that are a little more goopy, you know, things like we talked about, the dough, or something that has a good coating on it, or plastics or things like that, you have closer to the two hour mark. So that’s as far as I realize, and that’s a time limit thing that would be between one and two hours.

As far as activated charcoal or administering those other things, those happen usually in an interval of like every six hours or so.

We talked about kidney stuff related to the ethylene glycol. You want to get that figured out within 24 hours, because the longer the ethylene glycol is in there, turning into these crystals that shut down the kidneys, of course, the worse it is for long term survivability of the kidneys.

Amy Castro (27:07.534)
Are there some universal… not a universal sign, but my first thought would be a universal sign that something is going on is just your pet not acting like themselves.

Eliminating maybe just the fact that it’s the holiday and it’s a little bit weird, maybe they’re a little excited. But beyond that?

Dr. Zoo (28:44.430)
Yeah, I mean, I think being too hidden away or being too anxious, those are kind of the mental states that you’re looking for with “why is he under the bed?” That should definitely catch your attention. Or, “Why is he jittery and jumpy with every noise, sound, or person that walks by?”

And that can be hard to gauge, but what I always tell my clients is that you know your pet better than anyone. You’ve lived their whole life with you. And so if you think there’s anything out of the ordinary for how they would respond or react, I think it’s always worth it to be on the cautious side.

So if they normally would respond friendly to a family member that’s come over, but instead now they’re hiding, that should catch your attention. Certainly some of it can be shyness or anxiety, but then maybe go do a normal activity. Like, okay, even though he’s anxious with my family member, maybe if we go out for a walk like we normally do and he handles that normally, then it’s just the family member.

But if we go out for a walk and he’s drunk walking and he doesn’t know his usual spots where he marks urine, and people that he sees or other dogs that he would normally bark at, he’s not responding to that, that should catch your attention.

Amy Castro
I think too, if you think about it from the standpoint of, if you’re asking the question, “Is there something wrong?” you probably might already know. Trust your gut.

Dr. Zoo
So many times I wish I’d listened to my gut.

Amy Castro (28:44.430)
Any final thoughts, tips, whatever, for keeping our pets safe for the holidays?

Dr. Zoo (29:15.032)
Yeah, I think an ounce of prevention is worth all your trouble for sure.

If there is grandma, pretend you’re hugging her and then do a little slide down. Let me help you take a load off and put grandma’s purse up.

I think people are understanding when you explain ahead of time what you’re doing, what you’re trying to prevent. I think people, especially if they’re going to be a guest in your home, hopefully they’ll understand the precautions, especially if they’re not a pet person and they don’t understand how pets behave, let’s say.

So yeah, I think a little bit of education and prevention is the best way to handle that sort of thing.

Amy Castro (29:07.246)
So you’re saying frisk grandma.

Dr. Zoo (29:15.032)
Your husband can be rifling through her purse.

Amy Castro
And you can always blame it on yourself. Don’t blame it on, “I don’t trust you,” but, “My dog’s not well behaved, and so therefore I’ve got to protect him from himself.”

I’m going to be so busy I won’t be able to keep an eye on things. Let me help you.

And I do think sometimes it’s stuff where people want to be interacting with your pet, but they don’t realize what’s dangerous or what’s not. Maybe they put a purse down to give your pet the hug or snuggle, and then that’s when the pet takes their opportunity to swipe the bottle and run off.

Dr. Zoo
Yeah. You were not paying attention.

Amy Castro (30:11.406)
And they’ll take advantage.

Right, awesome. Well, Dr. Zoo, thank you once again for being on the show. I appreciate your wisdom and advice here. Hopefully we can all stay nice and safe during the holidays. A scene just like this. Peace and harmony, a little snow.

We’ll see you next time.

Dr. Zoo (30:29.548)
Bye. Thanks for having us.

Amy Castro (30:38.786)
If there’s one big takeaway from today, it’s this. You know your pet better than anyone else. So if something feels off, trust that instinct. Hiding, wobbling, jittery behavior, vomiting, that glassy eyed look. Those are all signs to pay attention to, especially during the holidays when new hazards walk in the door disguised as relatives, gifts, and traditions.

Be sure to act early, grab whatever they may have gotten into, and call your vet or the nearest emergency clinic. A quick response can make the difference.

And if you want this episode handy when the holiday chaos starts, make sure you tap right now to follow. That way when Cousin Mike and the rest of the family roll on in, you can pull this episode up instantly and know exactly what signs to watch for.

And we’d love to hear from you. If you’ve run into a weird holiday hazard before or have a question you want answered on future episodes, head on over to PetParentHotline.com and send me a message. Your real life stories and questions are what shape this show.

Thanks for listening to the Pet Parent Hotline. If you enjoyed the show, don’t keep it to yourself. Text a friend right now with a link and tell them, “I’ve got a show that you need to hear,” and ask them to let you know what they think.

And remember, your pet’s best life starts with you living yours. So be sure to take good care of yourself this week and your pets.