Education that keeps animals safe
Free, practical advice from people who actually do this.
This is educational, not a substitute for a vet. In an emergency, call your nearest vet immediately — before you do anything on this page.
If you are with us in Sarandë, Saranda Paws Vet Clinic is the fastest call to make. Wherever you are, a real vet on the phone beats a good guess every time.
What to do if your dog ate something toxic
Poisoning moves fast, so the first job is to notice it. Watch for vomiting, drooling, diarrhea, a wobbly or drunk-looking walk, tremors or seizures, sudden lethargy, pale gums, or a racing heart. If you saw your dog eat something they shouldn’t have, don’t wait for symptoms — assume it counts.
Call a vet or an animal poison line before you treat anything at home. Tell them what was eaten, roughly how much, and when. If you have the packaging or a sample of the plant, keep it — it tells the vet exactly what they’re treating.
Inducing vomiting — only if a vet says so
The standard at-home method is fresh 3% hydrogen peroxide (the plain brown-bottle kind), given by mouth. The usual guideline is about one teaspoon per 2.5 kg of body weight, up to a maximum of roughly three tablespoons for a large dog. Give it once; if nothing comes up within about 15 minutes, do not keep dosing — call the vet back.
A short walk or gentle movement afterward often helps. Never use salt, mustard, or your finger — those old tricks can do real harm.
When you must NOT make your dog vomit
Bringing something back up is sometimes the worst thing you can do. Skip it and get to a vet right away if:
- ✕Your dog is unconscious, extremely weak, seizing, or struggling to breathe.
- ✕They swallowed something caustic — bleach, drain cleaner, oven cleaner, or other strong acids and alkalis. It burns on the way down and again on the way back up.
- ✕They swallowed a petroleum product — petrol, kerosene, lighter fluid — which can be inhaled into the lungs if vomited.
- ✕It has been more than about two hours since they ate it, or you don’t know what or when.
- ✕They swallowed a sharp object.
In every one of these cases the answer is the same: call your vet and go. Let a professional decide the next step.
Foods that are toxic to dogs & cats
Plenty of everyday food is fine for us and dangerous for them. Keep these off the floor and off the counter.
- ChocolateThe darker it is, the more toxic. Baking chocolate is the worst.
- Grapes & raisinsCan cause sudden kidney failure, even in small amounts.
- Onions & garlicDamage red blood cells — raw, cooked, or powdered.
- Macadamia nutsCause weakness, tremors, and overheating in dogs.
- XylitolThe sweetener in sugar-free gum and sweets. Tiny amounts crash blood sugar.
- AlcoholA small amount goes a long way in a small body. Keep it out of reach.
- CaffeineCoffee, tea, and energy drinks all count. Racing heart, tremors.
- Cooked bonesSplinter and can pierce or block the gut. Never feed them.
For cats, add lilies to the top of the list — every part of the plant, including the pollen and the water in the vase, can cause fatal kidney failure. Even a curious nibble is an emergency.
Pet-care checklist for travel
A quick once-over before any trip. Most of it takes five minutes and prevents the problems that ruin a journey.
- ✓Teeth. Check for tartar, redness, or a broken tooth. Bad teeth mean pain and trouble eating on the road.
- ✓Ears. Look inside for wax, smell, or scratching — signs of an infection worth clearing up before you go.
- ✓Nails. Trim them so they don't catch or split. Long nails make hard floors and airport tile miserable.
- ✓Coat & skin. Brush out mats and scan for fleas, ticks, lumps, or sore spots.
- ✓Collar & harness fit. Two fingers under the strap — snug, never tight, and impossible to back out of.
- ✓ID & microchip. Tag details legible and the microchip registered to your current phone number and address.
- ✓Meds & records. Pack medication, vaccination records, and health certificates — in the carry-on, not the hold.
- ✓A familiar blanket. Something that smells like home turns a strange crate into a safe one.
Why spay & neuter matters
Start with the arithmetic, because it’s the whole argument. One unspayed female and her unspayed descendants can lead to hundreds of animals in just a few years — every one of them born onto the street, competing for scarce food and facing disease, cars, and hunger. Sterilization is the only thing that stops that math at the source.
It helps the individual animal too, not just the population. A spayed female avoids the cancers and life-threatening womb infections that come with repeated heat cycles. A neutered male roams less, fights less, and lives longer. The behavior that gets street animals hurt — wandering, mating drives, territorial fighting — settles down.
That’s why we tell supporters a sponsored spay or neuter is the most effective donation you can make. A weekend’s worth of money funds one surgery, and that one surgery quietly prevents dozens of future strays. Every animal we can sterilize is a whole line of suffering that never has to begin.
Support our clinic work
The guidance here is free. The surgeries, vaccinations, and medicine behind it aren’t. A gift funds the spay-and-neuter work that does the most good, one animal at a time.