My dog ate birth control pills, is this a problem?
My dog ate birth control pills { oral contraceptives }, are they poisonous or toxic to dogs, what problems or side effects can I expect? What should I do? Can human birth control pills be used to prevent pregnancy in dogs?
I read somewhere that around fifty per cent of the many calls made each day to the various pet poisons helplines are about dogs swallowing human medications, cats seem to have more sense I am glad to say and rarely do this. One human drug I am often asked about is birth control pills, these are often left lying about the house so I guess and are so more accessible to dogs than other drugs. They may also be attractive to dogs as the containers are bright and plastic and often make a rattling noise when shaken just like a dog toy.
How toxic are human birth control pills to dogs if swallowed?
The good news is that unlike some other human prescription drugs they are non-toxic to dogs, in fact, they are normally very unlikely to affect your dog in any way, and you will most likely not see any adverse symptoms. So if your dog has just swallowed a few of them you can relax! Some owners will induce vomiting if less than one hour has passed since ingestion, but usually, this is not necessary because of the low level of toxicity.
You see the hormone preparations in these products are sometimes used therapeutically in the dog under certain circumstances but often at a very much higher concentration than you will find in your average birth control pill.
What should I do if my dog swallows contraceptive pills?
What should you do if your dog ate birth control pills? Well it would be wise to monitor your dog for any strange symptoms and contact your vet without delay if any such do occur, this would be very unlikely though in my experience. That said it is technically possible that with very high doses female dogs which have not been spayed could experience side effects and bone marrow problems are also possible but given the pack sizes this would be very rare indeed in practice.
However, if a very small unspayed female dog ate a whole months supply then you might want to induce vomiting as a precaution. This can be effective if you can do it within one hour of ingestion. Please follow this link for precise instructions on how to do it best: LINK
Do human birth control pills work in dogs?
Finally, I am sometimes asked if human birth control pills will work as a morning-after pill for dogs after accidental matings. The answer is no, this would not be effective in the slightest, dogs have a very different reproductive cycle to humans. However, there are ” morning after ” injections for dogs which your vet can administer after an accidental mating.
Further reading
Please follow this link for further information of the dangers of dogs swallowing human birth control pills { As well as other possible toxins }: LINK