Alcohol poisoning in dogs and cats
Toxic agent: Ethanol · Reviewed 2026-08-18
Phone a vet now, before reading on. Have ready: your pet's weight, roughly how much was eaten and when, and the packaging if there is any. ASPCA Animal Poison Control (+1 888 426 4435), Pet Poison Helpline, or Animal PoisonLine in the UK.
Pets get drunk on a fraction of a human dose, and the danger is not the staggering — it is the drop in blood sugar, body temperature and breathing that follows.
What it actually does
Ethanol is absorbed within about half an hour and depresses the central nervous system. In small animals it also suppresses gluconeogenesis, so blood glucose falls, and it causes metabolic acidosis and a loss of thermoregulation. A small dog can move from playful to hypothermic and hypoglycaemic within an hour or two.
How much matters
Ethanol reaches pets from more places than the drinks cupboard:
| Beer | about 5% ethanol |
|---|---|
| Wine | about 12% |
| Spirits | about 40% |
| Raw bread dough | ferments in the stomach and produces ethanol continuously — see the yeast dough entry |
| Hand sanitiser | 60–70% ethanol, and flavourless to a licking dog |
| Rum-soaked cake, liqueur chocolates, fermenting windfall apples | all documented sources |
Reported oral lethal doses in dogs are in the region of 5–8 ml/kg of pure ethanol, but hypoglycaemia and hypothermia cause harm well below that, and small dogs and cats have very little margin.
What you will see, and when
Onset: 15 to 30 minutes. Typical course: 12 to 24 hours.
- 15–30 minutesWobbling, disorientation, vomiting, excitement then drowsiness
- 1–2 hoursLow body temperature, slow breathing, low blood sugar, tremors
- 2+ hoursComa, respiratory depression, aspiration risk while unconscious
What the vet will do
Intravenous fluids with dextrose, active warming, oxygen and airway protection. Blood glucose and electrolytes are followed closely. Inducing vomiting is often unsafe because the animal is already sedated and may aspirate.
Outlook
Good with supportive care. The deaths are respiratory depression and aspiration, not the ethanol itself.
Dogs and cats are not the same here
Both. Cats are smaller and more often affected by liqueur cream and hand sanitiser than by drinks.
Where it comes from in a normal house
- Beer, wine, spirits and cocktails left at floor level
- Hand sanitiser and alcohol wipes
- Raw bread and pizza dough
- Rum baba, tiramisu, liqueur chocolates
- Fermenting fruit under trees, and homebrew
The thing people get wrong
“A little beer is a funny party trick and wears off.”
It wears off in a human liver at human body mass. In a 6 kg dog the same volume is a serious dose, and the dangerous part — falling glucose and temperature — happens after the amusing part.
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Get PawLife on the App StoreFrequently asked questions
How much Alcohol is dangerous?
Reported oral lethal doses in dogs are in the region of 5–8 ml/kg of pure ethanol, but hypoglycaemia and hypothermia cause harm well below that, and small dogs and cats have very little margin.
How long after exposure to Alcohol do symptoms start?
15 to 30 minutes. Wobbling, disorientation, vomiting, excitement then drowsiness. 12 to 24 hours.
Is Alcohol worse for cats or dogs?
Both. Cats are smaller and more often affected by liqueur cream and hand sanitiser than by drinks.
Is it true that: A little beer is a funny party trick and wears off.
It wears off in a human liver at human body mass. In a 6 kg dog the same volume is a serious dose, and the dangerous part — falling glucose and temperature — happens after the amusing part.
Related emergencies
Sources
This page is information, not veterinary advice. Toxic doses vary with body weight, age, breed and individual sensitivity, and the figures above exist to explain what a vet is assessing, never to decide that an amount is safe. If you are reading this because something has already been eaten, call a vet.