K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine has a free, 24-hour animal poison control hotline at 785-532-5679 that puts worried pet owners and other veterinarians in touch with three K-State veterinary toxicologists. The college has been operating the animal poison control center since 1969. Overseeing the hotline is Dr. Fred Oehme, a veterinarian and professor of toxicology and pathobiology.
The veterinarians field calls from across the country, night and day. The number of calls can vary from two or three during a whole day to two or three in one hour. The free service is staffed by on-call veterinarians who also maintain regular veterinary practices at K-State along with their teaching and research duties. For that reason, Oehme said the hotline calls should be for real concerns and not employed frivolously.
If you have an emergency and need to call the hotline, Oehme offers some tips:
* Be patient. The person who answers the phone may have to page the veterinarian on call. This may take a few minutes, especially during the nighttime.
* Call as soon as possible. If you call within five minutes to 10 minutes of ingestion, a veterinarian may direct you to induce vomiting to minimize harm. But if you wait a few hours to see how the animal reacts, it may be too late. Also, be able to tell the veterinarian how long ago the poison was ingested.
* Have product labels handy. Be able to tell the veterinarian what your pet ingested. If it was a medication, tell the veterinarian the generic name of the drug and how many milligrams were in each tablet. Also be able to tell the veterinarian how much your pet weighs.
* Know if your pet is actually in trouble. A little drool might just mean your pet is happy to see you. Unusual drooling, unexplained vomiting, frothing at the mouth, redness or burns in the mouth, difficulty breathing, unusual behavior, convulsions or unconsciousness may indicate that your animal is in trouble.
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