Antihistamines and Decongestants are Poisonous To Pets
Name: Antihistamines and Decongestants
Toxin: Histamine
Symptoms: Some of the symptoms may be depression, difficulty breathing, hyper excitability, uncontrollable shaking, seizures, dilated pupils, hyperthermia, disorientation, irregular heartbeat, or an increase or decrease in heartbeat.
Additional Information: Histamine works to make the blood vessels in the body wider, to make it easier for blood to flow. This same action of enlarging the blood vessels to increase flow also creates a drop in blood pressure. Animals naturally produce histamine which is used by the body to increase blood supply to an injury or foreign object that has entered the body by increasing the size of the blood vessels surrounding it. This natural action of increasing the blood supply around and injury promotes faster healing and quicker detoxification of foreign objects in the body.
Antihistamines on the other hand serve to restrict the ability of histamine to attach to the cells and reduce it’s ability to increase blood flow.
First Aid: If the dog is alert induce vomiting and use activated charcoal slurry and seek veterinary attention.