Patterns of animal poisonings reported to the Texas Poison Center Network: 1998-2002

A portion of calls handled by poison centers involve poisonings of animals; however, information on such calls is limited. This study used data from poison centers in Texas collected during 1998-2002 to document the epidemiology of animal poisoning calls. There were a total of 24,467 animal poisoning calls, representing 2.0% of all calls. Dogs were affected in 87% of the calls and cats in 11%. The exposures were unintentional in 99% of the cases, occurred via ingestion in 95% and involved dermal exposure in 5% of the cases. Exposures occurred at the owner's own residence 91% of the time and were handled outside of health care facilities 61% of the time. The outcome involved no clinical effect for 60% of the cases involving dogs and 39% of the cases involving cats. Reported exposures occurred more often during the summer, and the most frequently reported exposures involved pesticides and plants. These findings were consistent with the limited reports from on poison center regarding animal poisonings.