Pet toxicity is a significant concern among pet owners. Often, the toxic effect results from certain food items that the pet is allergic to. At other times, your dog or cat might accidentally consume something toxic, like a plant, poison, garbage, etc. leading to more serious and damaging consequences. The symptoms of pet toxicity can range from minor illness to severe organ failure. As a pet owner, you must watch out for the signs of such toxicity and consult a vet without delay. So, here are some of these obvious signs of pet toxicity to look out for.

Gastrointestinal signs
These happen to be the most common symptoms of pet toxicity. These include loss of appetite and vomiting and are most often the result of your dog or cat eating lead paint, garbage, or toxic plants like English holly and English ivy. At times, the gastrointestinal symptoms can take the form of diarrhea, caused by poisons such as snake bites, chocolate, medications, and a few toxic plants, namely, iris, pokeweed, daphne, and chinaberry. You should not ignore even the slightest signs lest they become serious enough to cause discomfort and pain to your pet.

Anemia and bleeding
Loss of blood and lack of blood are both signs of pet toxicity that should not be ignored and reported immediately to the vet. Rat and mouse poison usually cause anemia, blood in the stool, nosebleeds, and bruising. Excessive amounts of certain foods like sweet clover, onion, and garlic can also be the reason behind anemia in pets, especially dogs.

Seizures
Seizures are the neurological symptoms of pet toxicity. These are caused by the rather severe pet poisons like tobacco, strychnine, alcohol, aspirin, antidepressants, insecticides, marijuana, furniture polish, dishwasher detergent, and also gasoline. A few types of animals and plants can also be toxic to cats and dogs, causing neurological problems. These animals are frogs, spiders, toads, and snakes, while plants like buckeyes and horse chestnuts are found to be quite toxic for pets.

Irregular heartbeat
Suppose your dog or cat breathes fast and is having irregular and erratic heartbeat, chances are that he/she is suffering from the cardiac symptoms of pet toxicity and should be taken to the vet immediately. Your dog may seem too tired and unable to move around at times, which might be due to a cardiac problem. A few types of medications and plants like milkweed, oleander, and mountain laurel are poisonous and cause such signs in dogs and cats.

Keeping track of these symptoms of pet toxicity is necessary because they may occur intermittently and gradually become severe. Therefore, not ignoring these signs is the most obvious way of reducing the pain and suffering of your pet and, in many cases, saving his/her life.