If you have a case involving the ingestion of a mushroom/toadstool, please call us on the VPIS line and do not advise your owners to call Animal PoisonLine (APL). We work with a mycologist at the Fungus Conservation Trust to identify the type of fungus involved and whether it is a toxic species or not and they only deal with vet practices and not the public. The VPIS will advise you on initial treatment and email a short questionnaire (which the owners can complete in the surgery if the vet team is busy) and ask for photos to be sent to us. The questionnaire provides additional information that is useful to aid identification but that cannot be obtained from a photograph. The questionnaire and images are then sent to our mycologist for identification and an appropriate treatment plan can be put in place, if indicated.
If an owner does call APL about a mushroom case we will automatically refund the APL fee and advise that they contact their veterinary surgery. We have had several enquiries about mushrooms recently due to the warm wet weather.
