A cat or dog suffers from food toxicity when they consume a harmful substance or even a food item that can cause adverse effects. It can affect your pet’s liver, stomach, lungs, and even the brain. In some cases, it can be life-threatening.

If you’ve experienced the effects of food toxicity in pets, you know how frustrating the situation can be for you and your pet. Your pet will begin to show an unpleasant bout of sickness accompanied by symptoms that are annoying. It’s important to know these symptoms to ensure the best and timely treatment for your furry companion.

Gastrointestinal symptoms
Your cat or dog will experience a severe loss of appetite and vomit profusely. It’s a clear indication of food toxicity, and it can be due to consuming something like leftover and exposed food, stale food, and other foods that cause allergies. Diarrhea is also a common sign of a gastrointestinal issue due to food poisoning. It leads to severe weakness and promotes lethargic behavior.

Behavioral changes
Food toxicity affects not just the physical body and organs but also causes a lot of mental disturbances in your pet. Your usually happy and lively pet will start showing significant changes in behavior, like increased aggression, irritation, and hypersensitivity. They may also display withdrawal symptoms. Your cat or dog will stop doing the activities they once enjoyed.

Seizures and neurological symptoms
Seizures and other neurological symptoms are common in pets suffering from food toxicity. If you’ve placed flea repellents in your home and they accidentally mix with your pet’s food, it can cause common mental issues and seizures. Likewise, if the food contains detergents, drain cleaners, insecticides, it can cause seizures and anxiety in pets, and they start to show violent behaviors or go into depression. They also show signs of a lack of coordination, tremors, and may even collapse.

Other symptoms
There are a host of other symptoms of food toxicity in cats and dogs. These symptoms largely vary and depend on the intensity of the active ingredient the food contains. These common and mild to severe symptoms include:

• Agitation
• Convulsions
• Heart diseases
• Irregular heartbeat
• Restricted blood flow
• Excessive bruising
• Diarrhea with blood in stools
• Vomiting with blood
• Kidney failure
• Persistent coughing
• Skin swelling and inflammation
• Rapid breathing
• Increased thirst
• Jaundice and liver issues causing yellowing of the skin
• Labored breathing
• Excessive salivation
• Anemia
• Abdominal cramps and severe abdominal pain

Foods that cause these symptoms
Most often than not, several foods considered healthy and safe for human consumption are the most harmful ones for cats and dogs. Chocolates, baked goods, caffeine, xylitol, garlic, onion, avocados, and many others cause mild to serious health ailments in your pets. They deteriorate your pet’s physical health, invade their brain, and cause a number of unpleasant issues, with some of them being life-threatening. This calls for immediate action, and you may need to take your pet to the vet immediately.

Apart from poisoning from foods, your cat can invite toxic ingredients by chewing on or even by consuming several plants and flowers.