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Your Dog’s Cooling Mat or Gel Eye Mask Could Be Toxic, ASPCA Warns

Your Dog’s Cooling Mat or Gel Eye Mask Could Be Toxic, ASPCA Warns
A golden retriever stretched out asleep on a wooden floor

Most of us have at least one of these somewhere in the house. A gel eye mask in the freezer. A soft migraine cap you chill or warm up in the microwave. A blue cooling pad that helped your dog get through a hot afternoon. They feel harmless, and the packaging often says they are.

That’s why a new warning from ASPCA Poison Control is worth a few minutes of your time. On Oct. 5, 2026, the ASPCA announced research published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) describing 45 dogs with suspected acrylamide poisoning after they chewed into hydrogel products. Some became very sick. Some died.

I don’t want to frighten you. Plenty of dogs will never go near these things. But if you live with a chewer (and so many of us do), this is one of those small, easy changes that could matter a lot.

What the researchers found

The study was written by ASPCA Poison Control toxicologists, working with the Product Injury Coalition, scientists from Cambridge Polymer Group, and a veterinarian from VEG ER for Pets, according to the ASPCA.

The team went through cases in ASPCA Poison Control’s AnTox database from January 2024 to June 2026, IVC Journal reports. They focused on 45 dogs with strong evidence of exposure to polyacrylamide-based hydrogel products: migraine caps, eye masks, wraps, and cooling pet beds and pads.

The signs were serious. Vomiting, tremors, seizures, unsteadiness, and a racing heart came up most often. Some dogs turned anxious, agitated, or restless, and IVC Journal notes that one case even suggested hallucinations. Others were panting, overheated, or unusually sensitive to touch.

The outcomes are the hardest part to read. According to IVC Journal‘s summary of the paper, outcomes were known for 21 of the dogs, and 14 of those 21 died or were euthanized. The ASPCA also says its Poison Control center now gets reports of suspected acrylamide poisoning every week.

So how can a “nontoxic” gel hurt a dog?

The gel itself is made of a polymer called polyacrylamide, which is generally considered low risk. The trouble is what can be left behind when it’s made. Polyacrylamide is built from smaller units of acrylamide, and a little of that raw ingredient can stay in the finished gel.

Acrylamide is a different story. The ASPCA describes it as a neurotoxin, a reproductive toxin, and a possible carcinogen, and it suspects acrylamide, not the gel itself, is behind the dogs’ signs.

When the researchers tested gel from products linked to these cases, they found acrylamide at 12,900 to 51,800 parts per million. The ASPCA says that’s 21 to 86 times the upper end of what’s normally expected in these gels (under 1 to 600 ppm). Next to a medical-device-grade gel such as Bulkamid, which is specified at 1.5 ppm or less, it’s 8,600 to 34,500 times higher.

๐Ÿ’ก Did you know? Some of these products are labeled “nontoxic” or even “medical grade.” The ASPCA points out that packaging may describe the gel that way, which helps explain why so many people wouldn’t think twice if their dog chewed one open.

Vets have been raising this for a while

This report didn’t come out of nowhere. Earlier this year, veterinarians at Pet Poison Helpline, a separate poison line based in Minnesota, published their own cases.

In September 2026, AAHA’s Trends magazine covered a Pet Poison Helpline case series about three dogs who ate cooling headache products: a 1-year-old Shar-Pei, a 4-year-old mixed-breed dog from the same home, and a 1-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. None of them survived. Lab tests on the products, and on gel recovered from the spaniel’s vomit, found acrylamide at 3,600 to 13,000 ppm.

“Animals can survive once neurologic signs develop,” Renee Schmid, DVM, director of veterinary medicine at Pet Poison Helpline, told Trends. “However, many animals do not recover.”

Back in February, Trends had also described a letter from veterinary toxicologists about a dog of roughly 10 pounds who ate about one tablespoon of hydrogel from a migraine mask. That small amount was followed by vomiting, a fast heart rate, wobbliness, tremors, and grand mal seizures. The letter also noted that heat or physical breakdown of the gel may release more free acrylamide. With cooler weather here and microwavable heat packs coming back out of the cupboard, that’s worth keeping in mind.

A young black dog lying in a patch of sunlight on a wooden floor next to a red chew toy

Which products are we talking about?

The ASPCA’s list is broader than you might expect. It includes:

  • Hot and cold packs, and migraine caps
  • Eye masks
  • Gel wraps for fingers, hands, wrists, ankles, or knees
  • Cooling pet pads and cooling pet beds
  • Other hydrogel and gel bead products

The ASPCA notes that these often turn up in first aid kits and lunchboxes, too. And there’s a second risk on top of the chemical one: superabsorbent beads can expand after they’re swallowed and block the gut.

To be fair, not every gel pack is a danger. In its guidance for veterinarians, ASPCA Poison Control says most traditional packs are considered low risk. The problem is that some products contain unexpectedly high levels of acrylamide, and the label won’t necessarily tell you which ones.

๐Ÿ’ก Good to know: Acrylamide can be absorbed through the skin and by breathing it in, not only by swallowing it, according to ASPCA Poison Control. If a pack leaks, wear nitrile gloves to clean up the gel, and wear them if you need to bathe a pet who got into it.

What about all those gel packs in Korea?

If you live in Korea, you probably have a drawer full of gel ice packs from grocery deliveries. Green Post Korea reported, citing the Ministry of Environment, that about 210 million gel-type ice packs were used in 2019, double the number in 2016. Most of these use a superabsorbent polymer known as SAP, according to Green Post Korea and BizWatch.

It’s worth being clear here: this study looked at polyacrylamide wellness products, not delivery ice packs, so it doesn’t tell us anything about the packs in your freezer. Still, the ASPCA’s basic advice (keep gel products out of reach and clean up leaks quickly) makes sense for any gel lying around the house.

There’s a small piece of good news, too. BizWatch reported that several big Korean delivery companies, including Coupang, Kurly, and SSG, switched to ice packs filled with plain water back in 2019.

What to do if your dog chews one

โš ๏ธ Please don’t wait. If your dog may have chewed, punctured, or swallowed any part of a gel product, call your veterinarian or ASPCA Poison Control at (888) 426-4435 (open 24/7) right away. If your dog shows tremors, wobbliness, or seizures, go to the nearest vet immediately.

“If you suspect your pet has ingested any amount of a hydrogel product, please contact your veterinarian,” Colette Wegenast, senior director of quality assurance at ASPCA Poison Control, said in the release.

That “any amount” matters. There’s no antidote for acrylamide, so vets can only give supportive care, such as fluids, seizure control, and medicines to settle the muscles. In the Pet Poison Helpline cases, signs started within hours, and things moved fast after that.

A few other steps from the ASPCA can help your vet, too. Keep the packaging, the label, and any ingredient information so your vet knows what they’re dealing with. And report the problem to the manufacturer and to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) or the FDA. As the ASPCA puts it, “Increased reporting helps identify emerging hazards.”

A black and white French Bulldog puppy chewing on a small gift box on a soft blanket

What this study can’t tell us yet

This is important research, but it has limits.

Poison control records only include the cases people called in about. So they can’t tell us how often a dog who chews a gel pack gets sick, or how many chew one and are fine. Outcomes were also known for fewer than half of the 45 dogs. Only gel from three of the products linked to these cases was analyzed for acrylamide, according to ASPCA Poison Control, so the findings don’t point to specific brands.

The exact way acrylamide causes these sudden, severe signs isn’t fully understood yet either, and ASPCA Poison Control says its toxicologists are still investigating treatment options.

Angel Jake Note ๐Ÿพ

Reading these cases was hard. These were ordinary household things, the kind you’d leave on a nightstand without a second thought.

So please don’t feel guilty if your dog has a cooling mat right now. Just take a minute today to check where your gel packs, eye masks, and wraps live, and move them somewhere your dog can’t reach. If your dog’s a chewer, keep an eye on them whenever they’re on a cooling pad. And if you ever find a torn pack and a gel-smeared muzzle, call your vet first and worry later.

Medical Disclaimer

Iโ€™m not a vet, and nothing here replaces a real exam. If something about your dog feels off, please trust that feeling and call your veterinarian.

Sources

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Written by

Ellie

Ellie has shared her life with dogs for more than 20 years, in both Korea and the United States, and she is always reading and learning more about them. Caring for dogs with heart disease and skin problems has shown her how tender and sad that time can be, and how much joy it holds. After Jake, her dog of more than 15 years, crossed the rainbow bridge, she wanted more than ever to help people understand their dogs.