Tips To Minimize Poisoning Threat Pet Meds Pose To Your Kids
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- According to new research, your children experience a risk of poisoning due to common items in the homes of most pet owners.
The study was conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
It examined the impact that flea medications, heartworm pills and other pet medicine could have on your children. The research warns that these items could pose a serious poisoning threat to young people.
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According to the study, the Central Ohio Poison Center received an average of 95 calls each year from 1999 to 2013 regarding young people being exposed to medicine that was intended for pets. 88 percent of those calls were for children under the age of five who ingested pet medicine or came in contact with it somehow in the home.
The majority dealt with dog medications.
The issue also impacts older children, according to the research. The study found that the majority of calls for teenagers were made after a teen took medicine that they believed was for human use, but was actually for a pet.
Authors of the study recommended storing pet and human medications in different places and not administering pet medicine to your animals unless children are out of the room.
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The study concluded that the majority of instances were not believed to have caused any long-term complications, but that even in small doses, pet medicines can have negative effects on children.
