My Pet Ate Something – What Should I Do?
Is this an emergency right now?
If your pet has collapsed, is having a seizure, is struggling to breathe or is bleeding heavily, call your nearest emergency vet now.
Whatever this tool says, contact your vet or the Animal PoisonLine for advice.
Whatever this tool says, contact your vet or the Animal PoisonLine for advice.
The Animal PoisonLine is run by the Veterinary Poisons Information Service (VPIS) and is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is a paid service: £35 between 8am and 8pm on weekdays, £45 at all other times. If your vet then needs to call the professional VPIS service, the cost of your call is refunded.
Call Animal PoisonLine 01202 509000Never try to make your pet sick at home, and never give human medicines to a pet.
Estimated dose: 6 mg of methylxanthines per kg body weight
Low risk, but still call your vet or Animal PoisonLine for advice
Time matters: vets treat most effectively soon after eating, so call straight away rather than waiting for symptoms. Signs can last 24 hours or more. It has been 1 hour so far.
What to tell your vet
- What your pet ate (keep the packet or wrapper)
- How much, as accurately as you can
- When it happened
- Your pet's weight
- Any symptoms so far
- Any medicines or health conditions your pet has
Why time matters so much
Vets can do the most when they see a pet soon after something has been eaten, before it has all been absorbed. That is why the advice is always to ring straight away rather than waiting to see whether symptoms appear. With chocolate, for example, signs can take several hours to show and can then last more than a day – but treatment started early is far simpler and usually far cheaper.
Please never do these things
- Never try to make your pet vomit at home, with salt, mustard or anything else. It can cause serious harm.
- Never give human medicines, including painkillers, to a dog or cat.
- Never wait overnight to see how things go with a known poison.
- Do keep the wrapper, packet or plant – it helps your vet enormously.
What your vet may do
Depending on what was eaten and when, your vet may give an injection to make your pet sick safely in the clinic, give activated charcoal to soak up what is left, put your pet on a drip to protect the kidneys, run blood tests, or simply monitor. Many cases turn out to be fine – the point of calling is to find out quickly which sort of case yours is.
Estimates only – not a substitute for advice from your vet.
Last reviewed: 22 September 2026