Meddor
Some foods we eat safely are dangerous for dogs and cats. If they’ve just swallowed one, don’t wait for symptoms: call your vet or an animal poison control centre. Choose the food to find out why, and what to watch for.
The foods most often involved
According to a 2016 review in Frontiers in Veterinary Science, the food poisonings in dogs and cats reported worldwide over the last decade involve chocolate, onion, garlic, leek and chives, macadamia nuts, grapes, xylitol, alcohol and raw bread dough. They often happen because people don’t know the danger.
| Food | What it causes |
|---|---|
| Chocolate, cocoa | Heart rhythm and nervous system problems. The darker, the more dangerous. |
| Grapes, raisins | Kidney failure in some dogs |
| Xylitol | Blood sugar crash and liver damage, in dogs |
| Onion, garlic, leek, chives | Anaemia, even cooked or powdered; cats are even more sensitive |
| Macadamia nuts | Weakness, tremors, fever, in dogs |
| Alcohol, raw bread dough | Drunkenness, low body temperature, coma; the dough also swells in the stomach |
| Lilies, daylilies | Kidney failure in cats, even from a little pollen or the vase water |
This list isn’t complete: if your pet swallowed something else that worries you, call too.
What to do
- Call right away, even if they seem fine: for several of these foods, signs only appear after hours, or even days.
- Don’t make them vomit and don’t give them anything without a vet’s advice. For xylitol, for example, the Merck Manual advises against making them vomit at home.
- Note what they ate, how much is missing and when. Keep the packaging.
Animal poison control lines
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control (US): (888) 426-4435, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. A consultation fee applies.
- Pet Poison Helpline (US): (855) 764-7661, 24/7. A fee applies per incident.
- Animal PoisonLine (UK), run by the Veterinary Poisons Information Service: 01202 509000, 24 hours a day. A fee applies per call. For a cat that ate a true lily, it advises contacting your vet immediately.
Fees and hours were checked on their own websites on 6 October 2026: confirm them when you call.
Animal poison control centres in France
- CNITV, Marcy-l’Étoile: +33 4 78 87 10 40, 7 days a week, 8:30 am to midnight. It answers vets and pet owners.
- CAPAE-Ouest, run by the Oniris veterinary school: +33 2 40 68 77 40, 8:30 am to midnight, free of charge.
At night, call the nearest emergency vet. Outside France, call your vet or your country’s animal poison control service.
Frequently asked questions
They ate a single grape: is it serious?
No one can tell from a distance. Toxicity varies from one grape to another, and the dangerous amount can’t be predicted. Call your vet or a poison control centre.
Is a little milk chocolate dangerous?
Milk chocolate contains less of the toxic substances than dark chocolate or cocoa, but it does contain them. The risk depends on the amount and your pet’s weight: that’s for the vet to judge.
My cat nibbled a bunch of lilies
Call now. For cats, the whole plant is toxic, and kidney failure can set in 2 to 4 days later.
Sources
- Merck Veterinary Manual, “Food Hazards”, updated May 2026: chocolate, grapes, xylitol, macadamia, bread dough.
- Merck Veterinary Manual, “Xylitol Toxicosis in Dogs”: cats aren’t affected.
- Merck Veterinary Manual, “Macadamia Nut Toxicosis in Dogs”, September 2024: mechanism unknown.
- Merck Veterinary Manual, “Plants Poisonous to Animals”, updated May 2026, and “Noninfectious Diseases of the Urinary System of Cats”: lilies and cats, pollen included.
- Merck Veterinary Manual, “Houseplants and Ornamentals Toxic to Animals”: true lilies and daylilies.
- Cortinovis and Caloni, “Household Food Items Toxic to Dogs and Cats”, Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2016: onion, garlic, alcohol.
- ASPCA, “ASPCA Poison Control”; Pet Poison Helpline, petpoisonhelpline.com; Animal PoisonLine, animalpoisonline.co.uk: numbers, hours and fees, checked on 6 October 2026.
- CNITV, “Le centre antipoison vétérinaire” (in French), and CAPAE-Ouest, centre-antipoison-animal.com (in French): numbers and hours, checked on 6 October 2026.