Veterinary Poisons Information Service and Animal PoisonLine

Home
United Kingdom
London
Veterinary Poisons Information Service and Animal PoisonLine

We are the Veterinary Poisons Information Service and Animal PoisonLine. The Veterinary Poisons Information Service (VPIS) is a members only service.
(24)

We are a 24-hour telephone emergency service providing information and treatment advice on poisoning cases in animals. We provide direct support to veterinary professionals. VPIS can provide advice on the effects of thousands of toxic substances in all species of animal. Our advice is based on our case database of over 280,000 past cases and extensive resources obtained through research of publish

ed data. We constantly refine our advice to ensure we provide the most accurate and up to date treatment advice. More information including details of membership, CPD courses and marketing materials can be found at www.vpisglobal.com

Animal PoisonLine is run by the Veterinary Poisons Information Service (VPIS) and is the only 24-hour specialised emergency telephone service in the UK dedicated to helping pet owners who are worried their pet may have been exposed to something harmful or poisonous. It is a triage service, which will let owners know if a trip to their vet is required. Based on the information the owner provides our vets and scientists will be able to tell the owner if they need to attend the vet. The lines are open 24 hours a day. Calls cost £35 between Monday- Friday 8am to 8pm. Calls cost £45 at all other times including bank holidays. We save 7 out of 10 customers and their pets a trip to the vets. More information can be found at www.animalpoisonline.co.uk

04/09/2024

02/09/2024

We are receiving a lot of calls involving ingestion of mushrooms at the moment.

Fortunately most mushrooms are of low toxicity but some can cause gastrointestinal upset, neurological signs and liver disease if ingested.

Top tips if you think your pet has ingested a mushroom:
☎️ Seek prompt advice
📷 Take several pictures of the mushrooms where they are growing
🍄 If there are other similar mushrooms nearby, pick one close to the base, wrap it in kitchen paper and take it with you to the vet
🔎We work with expert mycologists to provide accurate identification of mushrooms to enable targeted treatment. It is not safe to rely on pictures/apps for identification purposes

31/08/2024

Have you seen an interesting poisoning case in your vet practice that you have not contacted us about? We have an online questionnaire you can use to share this information. We will then add the details to our case database. The information will help us with toxicovigilance and may provide information that can aid in future cases.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QKH7KMJ

(Please note: we will not provide veterinary advice on these cases, they are for data/information collection purposes only. However if you do require advice, please call us!)

Alternatively you can also email us a summary of the case: [email protected]

21/08/2024

Are you a pet owner wanting to stay in the loop with seasonal poisoning hazards that your pet may face?

Subscribe to our newsletter here: https://www.animalpoisonline.co.uk/newsletter/

21/08/2024

The Veterinary Poisons Information Service is pleased to announce the following CPD course dates aimed at keeping vets and vet nurses up-to-date in small animal toxicology.

2024
Friday 20th September – Edinburgh
Monday 21st October – London

The course will cover:
Case histories for potential poisons cases
Decontamination for poisons cases
Toxicology information resources
Common or tricky poisonings in cats and dogs

To find out more or to book a place please visit https://www.vpisglobal.com/class-based-courses/ or email [email protected]

20/08/2024

Help raise awareness with one of our free promotional packs. These include an Animal PoisonLine poster and a selection of leaflets.

For veterinary practices, the pack will also include our triage flow chart .

Please comment below or email your postal address to receive a pack. Our email address is [email protected]

19/08/2024

Our monthly E-Newsletter, is written by our team, for veterinary professionals. It is sent via email at the beginning of every month,it includes previous cases, cases from literature and seasonal trends.

You can subscribe and see previous articles at www.vpisglobal.com

14/08/2024

FAO: Veterinary Clinical Team

You may have received follow up letters from us in the past, asking for you to provide us with outcome information regarding a case. This information will help us with toxicovigilance and may provide information that can aid in future cases.
We are delighted to announce that we have now made the follow up process electronic via a SurveyMonkey questionnaire.
Please keep an eye on your emails; you may receive an email from us at least 5 days after your call to the VPIS containing a link to the follow up questionnaire.
If you have recently changed your email or want to check we have your correct email, please send a message with your practice code and postcode along with the best email address to [email protected] and we will update our records

07/08/2024

Just a reminder that the Veterinary Poisons Information Service is a members only service.

However, if you need us for a poisoning case and you do not have a current membership we can still handle your enquiry as long as you confirm that you will become a member after the call or are happy to pay a one off fee at the time.

We recommend you join membership before you need us to prevent a delay in receiving information when you have a case in practice. Often veterinary surgeons and locum team members are not sure if they can authorise membership so it leaves them in a difficult situation especially if the practice manager is not in the practice at that time.

To check if you have a current and up to date membership please login to the "My account" section of the website using the button below or call 0207 305 5055 (Option 2). You can also email [email protected]

You can purchase membership here https://www.vpisglobal.com/memberships/

29/07/2024

Animal PoisonLine is run by the Veterinary Poisons Information Service (VPIS) and is the only 24-hour specialised emergency telephone service in the UK dedicated to helping pet owners who are worried their pet may have been exposed to something harmful or poisonous.

Based on the information you provide our vets and scientists will be able to tell you if you need to go to the vets for immediate treatment or whether we can save you the trip.

We have experience of thousands of toxic substances in all animals and cover everything from human drugs, household and garden products, plants, agricultural chemicals to venomous bites and stings.

We recommend saving our number into your phone so you do not have to search the internet when you need us!

24/06/2024

We are aware of reports of dogs becoming unwell after being walked in/near to the Wycombe Rye in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

We are currently investigating these cases to see if they are linked and caused by a toxin.

We would advise all dog owners to be vigilant whilst walking in that area and seek veterinary attention if they are concerned about their pet.

24/06/2024

BVA Live

This year our Head of Service, Nicola Robinson , gave a lecture to veterinary professionals at BVA Live. Thank you to everyone who came to the talk and visited our stand.

Squid was a special visitor.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at London Vet Show in November!

21/06/2024

Goodwoof 2024!

What an amazing event! Its always lovely to meet so many dogs - and their owners!

We were delighted to give a presentation on common poisonings and how to prevent them.

Were you there? We would love to see pics of your dogs at Goodwoof in the comments .

Next stop - Dogfest in September!

19/06/2024

The Veterinary Poisons Information Service is pleased to announce the following CPD course dates aimed at keeping vets and vet nurses up-to-date in small animal toxicology.

2024
Thursday 10th July – York
Friday 20th September – Edinburgh
Monday 21st October – London

The course will cover:
Case histories for potential poisons cases
Decontamination for poisons cases
Toxicology information resources
Common or tricky poisonings in cats and dogs

To find out more or to book a place please visit https://www.vpisglobal.com/class-based-courses/ or email [email protected]

11/06/2024

Never give salt water to make an animal sick - it is dangerous.

Last month we attended the International Congress of the European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists (EAPCCT) and presented a poster summarising our cases where salt (sodium chloride) was given to make a pet sick.

Overall, we had 579 cases involving administration of saltwater or salt emetic. The amount of salt given varied from “a pinch of salt” to a litre of salt water. Of these cases we knew the outcome in 240 cases and there was a fatal outcome in 7 dogs (3%); 6 dogs died and one was euthanised. In two cases the outcome was likely due to toxic effects from the substance ingested (aldicarb and suspected Gyromitra esculenta mushroom). In the other five cases, the outcome appeared to be directly or indirectly due to administration of a saltwater emetic. These dogs either developed hypernatraemia (high blood sodium concentration) which can be lethal or complications from vomiting such as aspiration of detergent into the lungs.

Making an animal vomit after ingestion of a potential poison is not aways appropriate and may be contraindicated. The use of saltwater is never warranted in the management of suspected poisoning due to the risk of adverse effects including hypernatraemia and aspiration, and potentially death.

Read the full abstract and other abstracts here (https://shorturl.at/RgJ2V)

06/06/2024

UPCOMING CPD DATES

Some of you have been kind enough to let us know that we made a mistake on our last newsletter and published the 2023 CPD dates in error.

Although all our vet and vet nurse colleagues are multi talented, they might not manage time travel so here is a link to the correct dates!

There is a £50 discount for early bird bookings

Class-based courses The Veterinary Poisons Information Service is pleased to announce the following CPD course dates aimed at keeping vets and vet nurses up-to-date in small animal toxicology. 2024 Tuesday 13th February - London (VPIS Office – SE1 4PL) Wednesday 8th May - Plymouth (The Duke of Cor...

06/06/2024

BVA Live!

We are very excited to be part of BVA Live at the NEC. Come and say hello at stand G92 and enter our Toxic Hamper competition!

Our Head of Service , Nicola Robinson, will be giving a lecture in Clinical Theatre 2 at 2pm today with lots of useful hints and tips for managing poisoning cases.

Address

Godfree Court, 29-35 Long Lane
London
SE14PL

Website

http://www.vpisglobal.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Veterinary Poisons Information Service and Animal PoisonLine posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Veterinary Poisons Information Service and Animal PoisonLine:

Videos

Animal PoisonLine's video has been updated. If any veterinary practices would like a copy of the video for their waiting room TV's, please email [email protected]

In part 2 of this 2-part series for pet owners, we will discuss the common pet poisons that may be found in your home this Springtime. With Covid-19 enforcing us all to stay at home, we are concerned that accidental pet poisonings with certain household items may increase so it is vital pet owners stay vigilant and act appropriately if they suspect their pet has been poisoned. Questions are welcome, please write them in the comments section- we will try to get through as many as we can during the presentation. Please comment, like and share! We are streaming this event directly to our page rather than in the event itself- please go there to watch!

BamBams story:

BamBam is a 4 year old cavalier king charles spaniel. We recently received a call about BamBam after she woke her owner up during the night crying in pain. She was taken straight to her vets where on arrival, she was collapsed and cyanotic (bluish discolouration of the skin which indicates a lack of oxygen in the blood) with a very painful abdomen. Her vets noticed when they collected a blood sample from her that her blood was dark brown, indicating methaemoglobinaemia. Methaemoglobinaemia occurs in the red blood cells where haemoglobin is changed to methaemoglobin. As a result the blood is less effective at carrying oxygen to the tissues of the body. BamBams vet suspected that a toxin was likely to be the cause of her symptoms and called VPIS for help. Her owners reported that there were no medications missing around the house and she had not been seen eating anything she shouldn't have. We talked through a few potential causes but given her clinical history and symptoms, Paracetamol toxicity seemed a likely cause. There were some concerns about poisoned food being left in the area that BamBam may have eaten without her owners knowledge whilst on a walk that evening. *NB* Paracetamol can be given to dogs (when appropriately prescribed by a vet) but the safe dose is much lower than the dose suitable for humans. Cats do not tolerate paracetamol well at all and even a tiny amount can be toxic to cats. As well as methaemaglobinaemia (which can be fatal if not treated promptly), paracetamol toxicity can cause liver failure. Because her owner and her vet acted so quickly, BamBam was given the necessary antidotes for paracetamol poisoning, which along with supportive care, helped her to feel better quickly. Her vets monitored her very closely in the week following her initial presentation and we are pleased to say she is doing very well and showed no signs of liver failure. Her vets kindly sent us this sweet video of BamBam during her recovery as she started to feel

Shortcuts

Veterinary Poisons Information Service and Animal PoisonLine

The Veterinary Poisons Information Service (VPIS) is a 24-hour telephone emergency service providing information on the management of actual and suspected poisoning in animals. We provide direct support to veterinary professionals and the public.

Each poisoning case is directly handled by one of our trained veterinary information scientists. VPIS can provide advice on the effects of thousands of toxic substances in small animals, livestock, exotics, or wildlife.

For each enquiry VPIS will cover the risk assessment for that toxin and species, the anticipated clinical effects and the ideal treatment protocol with prognostic advice, in order to ensure that the veterinary professional is in the best position to provide optimum treatment.

Our advice is based on our case database of over 300,000 past cases and extensive resources obtained through research of published data. We constantly refine our advice to offer current best practice and ensure our veterinary information scientists are qualified and fully trained to handle your enquiry.