by Barbara Besteni

Created on: May 04, 2008

An apple a day may keep the doctor away for humans, but the cyanide in apple seeds can kill your dog.

Surprised? You're not alone.

In 2007, the ASPCA's Animal Poison Control Center received more than 130,000 calls. Most cases of animal poisoning were caused by common household items.

Sixty-eight percent of the calls had to do with an animal having ingested a medicine or drug normally prescribed for humans. It is the most common cause of pet poisoning in the U.S. And it's not just a case of Fido getting into his pet parent's medicine cabinet.

In many cases, experts say, pet owners give their feline and canine friends an over-the-counter medication to ease an animal's pain. But acetaminophen and ibuprofen, the active ingredients in many common pain relievers, are extremely toxic to dogs and cats. They can cause gastric ulcers, liver damage, kidney failure and sometimes death.

In 2007, the discovery of rat poison in some brands of popular dog and cat foods sparked a massive recall after dozens of animals reportedly got sick or died from eating the tainted food. And while you wouldn't dream of intentionally feeding your pet rat or mouse poison, it's easy enough for them to accidentally eat it if it's left somewhere where they can get to it. Be a responsible pet parent and keep all poisons in tightly sealed containers on shelves high enough where your curious pets can't get to them.

Mothballs are another common cause of poisoning in pets. Those that contain 100 percent naphthalene can be deadly.

If you use fabric softener sheets, keep them away from your pet pals. These sheets contain detergents known as cationics that are potentially harmful, especially to cats.

Pennies minted after 1982 are made of copper plating around zinc core. APCC experts say that the zinc in just one penny can cause kidney failure and damage red blood cells in pets.

In The Kitchen

While it's OK to occasionally treat your pets to people food, beware that many foods that humans enjoy can be dangerous to animals. Here are a few of the most toxic.

If your Cinco de Mayo celebration calls for guacamole, keep your pet pals away from the table. Avocados contain a toxic component called persin, which can damage heart, lung and other tissue in many animals.

And we've all seen the cute commercial where a dog goes to the refrigerator and gets his human a beer. But there's a reason why you never see the dog sharing that beer. Alcoholic beverages can cause the same damage to an animal's liver and brain as they cause

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