The Most Common & Serious Poisons Of Dogs

Updated April 13, 2021

In 2020, the American Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) published its data on poisonings in dogs. This could be the best information we have on household dangers to our canine friends.

From a dog-owner perspective, it contains two important lists: the top 5 reported poisonings and the top 20 fatalities. As you will see, these are quite different.

The Top 5 Poisons Of Dogs

1. Chocolate
2. Ibuprofen (Nurofen®, Advil® etc)
3. Sucrose-containing foods
4. Nitrogen-based fertilizers
5. Acetaminophen (paracetamol)

These are good to know, and easy to prevent. Though it’s hard to see the problem with sucrose.

The Top 20 Most Fatal Dog Poisons

The APCC have also listed their known fatalities in order of the percent of reported dogs that died. I’ve linked each poison to its relevant Wikipedia page if you want to read more. See my comments afterwards.

Poison	% Fatal	What is it?
Fluorouracil	65	Cytotoxic skin cream
Thioctic acid	64	Antioxidant dietary supplement
Phenylbutazone*	56	Anti-inflammatory drug
Ethylene dichloride	54	Solvent, reagent
Amlodipine*	43	Blood pressure medication
Blue-green algae	43	Pond microbes
Hydroxyurea	42	Cytotoxic human drug
Didecyl dimethyl ammonium chloride	41	Quaternary ammonium disinfectant
Hydrogen peroxide	40	Bleach, disinfectant
Stoddard solvent	40	Mineral turpentine
Mirtazapine*	40	Human antidepressant
Ethylene glycol	39	Engine coolant antifreeze
Calcitriol	38	Vitamin D supplement
Green tea extract	38	Weight loss product
Methomyl	38	Carbamate insecticide
Lamotrigine	37	Anticonvulsant, antidepressant
Bromethalin	37	Rat poison (not Australia)
Caffeine	34	Life-giving drug for humans
Aldicarb	33	Carbamate insecticide
Colchicine	33	Multi-use human drug

Key Findings

This list helps us understand which toxins are of greatest importance. You can see that one category stands out: medications

Nine are common human treatments, whether prescribed or not. Dogs gain access when they are left around carelessly or dropped in their presence. The ones marked with an asterisk (*) are also used in dogs.

The rest are all caused by access to common household poisons. With the exception of just two:

• blue-green algae come from stagnant water sources
• phenylbutazone is an outdated anti-inflammatory used mostly in horses

If this new evidence tells us anything, it’s that most poisonings occur by accident, not design. And that dogs will have a go at things you’d never expect them to eat.

I’ve certainly learnt a lot. Mainly to be a lot more careful about what I leave out.

Related: Poisonings In Adelaide Pets | Vitamin D

Swirski, A. L., Pearl, D. L., Berke, O., & O’Sullivan, T. L. (2020). Companion animal exposures to potentially poisonous substances reported to a national poison control center in the United States in 2005 through 2014. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 257(5), 517-530

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By Andrew Spanner BVSc(Hons) MVetStud, a vet in Adelaide, Australia. Meet his team here.