Do you have gum at your house, or maybe carry it around in your purse? Xylitol is a low-calorie sweetener. It’s often used as a sugar substitute in candies and, you guessed it, gum. It is also poisonous to your pets.

Now, before you rummage your cabinets to throw away all of your minty fresh gum, it’s perfectly safe to still have gum in your home. It’s just dangerous if it’s left somewhere your animals can easily get into it. Pet poison prevention is all about understanding what poses a risk for your furry friends. When you know what might cause harm, you can be proactive about what needs to be kept out of reach, and what you might want to avoid altogether.

What to Look For

There is a grocery list of common household items that you probably use everyday that might be accessible to your pets that you should be aware of. We’ve touched on xylitol in gum; another one is grapes and raisins. Your kids’ favorite summer snack is actually more poisonous to your dog or your cat than chocolate! Both grapes and raisins can lead to acute kidney damage or even life-threatening kidney failure.

Pesky Plants

The last dangerous household item we want to leave you with is lilies. While beautiful, even having this plant in the same room as your pets is dangerous. If you have indoor cats, it might be safe to have these plants outside, away from any windows you crack open where your cat might perch and stare outside. However, we advise against having lilies anywhere inside the house and if you have dogs that run around in your yard, best to not have any outside either. There are plenty of other beautiful flowers you can have in your home that won’t harm your pets!

We don’t want to cause panic because avoiding these items is not as hard as it might seem when you know what to look out for.

As always, contact Noah’s Ark Animal Clinic if you have any questions about the care of your furry friend! We treat your pet like our own.