Your dog has eaten something. You are standing in the kitchen holding an empty packet, and the internet is offering you contradictory advice.
Here is what actually matters in the first ten minutes.
Step one: gather three facts
What. How much. When.
Everything a vet can do depends on these, and every minute you spend on the internet instead of the phone is a minute lost.
- What, the packaging, or a photograph of it. Bring it with you. For a plant, bring a leaf
- How much, the honest estimate, including the possibility that it was the whole packet
- When, as precise as you can. This determines whether decontamination is still worth doing
And know your dog's weight. Every toxicity threshold is per kilogram. "About 20 kilos" is a much worse answer than a number.
Step two: call a vet. Before symptoms.
Do not wait to see whether your dog becomes unwell.
For several important poisons, by the time signs appear the window for the most effective treatment has closed:
- Xylitol can cause a blood sugar crash within 30 minutes, or be delayed 12 to 18 hours
- Anticoagulant rat poison may produce no signs at all for three to five days, by which time internal bleeding is already underway
- Paracetamol damage is done well before the dog looks ill
A dog that seems fine an hour later has told you nothing.
Step three: do not make your dog vomit unless told to
This is where well-meaning owners cause harm.
Do not induce vomiting if:
- The substance is caustic, acid, alkali, drain cleaner, toilet cleaner, phenyl, bleach. It burns the throat a second time coming back up
- It is a petroleum product, kerosene, petrol, paint thinner. High risk of inhaling it into the lungs
- Your dog is drowsy, unsteady, seizuring or unconscious, aspiration risk
- You do not know what it was
Never use salt as an emetic. It is unsafe and can itself cause a dangerous sodium rise.
Activated charcoal is best given under veterinary direction. It does nothing for xylitol, alcohol or heavy metals, and it is dangerous in a drowsy dog.
The safe default: get to a vet and let them decide. They have safe, effective emetics and they can make the call with the whole picture.
Common poisons in Indian homes
Beyond the standard international list, these are what actually turns up here.
Rat poison and pest bait. Extremely common, often placed in kitchens and behind appliances, and available in several chemically different types with completely different treatments and antidotes. Bring the box. The colour of the pellets is not enough, the active ingredient matters.
Human painkillers. Paracetamol, ibuprofen, diclofenac. Often given deliberately by an owner trying to help a limping dog. All are toxic to dogs and cause liver damage, gastric ulceration and kidney injury. This is one of the most common serious poisonings there is, and it is entirely preventable.
Chocolate and mithai, particularly around Diwali. Cooking chocolate and cocoa powder are far more dangerous than milk chocolate for the same weight.
Xylitol, in sugar-free gum, mints, some peanut butters and a growing range of "no added sugar" Indian products.
Onion and garlic, in quantity through leftover food, a slower, cumulative harm rather than a single event.
Grapes and raisins, including kishmish in kheer, halwa and festival sweets. No reliable safe dose exists.
Phenyl and cleaning products. Widely used and generously applied on Indian floors. Caustic, do not induce vomiting.
Pesticide-sprayed grass in parks and society lawns, frequently unannounced.
Snake bite, in many parts of the country. Keep the dog still, do not attempt to cut or suck the wound, do not apply a tourniquet, and go.
Toads, in some regions, a dog that has mouthed one drools profusely; rinse the mouth sideways with running water so the dog does not swallow it, and go.
The full food list, with the thresholds that exist, is here.
What to do while travelling
- Bring the packaging, or the plant, or a photo
- Bring a sample of any vomit, if it happened on its own
- Nothing by mouth, no food, water, milk or home remedies. Milk does not neutralise poison, and it delays treatment
- Keep the dog warm and quiet
- Call ahead so the clinic can prepare and check they have what is needed
- Handle carefully, a distressed dog may bite, including yours
Prevention, which is where this is won
Most poisonings in Indian homes are not exotic accidents. They are routine.
- Rat poison placed where a dog can reach it. If you must use it, use covered bait stations, and know that a poisoned rat is itself a hazard to a dog that catches it
- Medication left on a low table or in a handbag. Dogs open bags
- Bins without lids
- Festival sweets at dog height for a week
- Guests feeding "just a little", tell people directly, before the event
- Cleaning products left out during and after mopping, and floors walked on before they dry
The bottom line
What, how much, when. Get those three, take the packaging, and call before symptoms rather than after.
Do not induce vomiting on your own initiative, with caustics and petroleum products it makes things worse, and with a drowsy dog it is dangerous.
And save your vet's number and the nearest night clinic in your phone today. Every article on this shelf ends with that sentence because it is the one thing that reliably buys time.
Signs are absent in many of the serious poisonings for hours or days. Treat the eating as the emergency, not the symptoms.