Pet Safety

Hello
I recently lost my dog to poisoning on a farm we stayed at. If I'd known the toxicity of the poison I would have acted but because I got the sachet out of the dogs mouth, spilling a couple of crumbs, I didn't think any thing of it. Four days later she died.

Are there participants on this site who have had or know of people who have had a problem with their pets getting hold of poisons in the home or out in the field? I would like to find out more about how they managed.

Thank you for your time. Jennie

In that situation you take your animal to the vet promptly, even though at the start there will be no symptoms. (Usually it's one of the coagulant toxins dogs get hold of.) If the dog receives Vit. K injections, it will often survive.

Do you know your dog hadn't already eaten another of the baits?

Jennie,
I'm very sorry as I have just gone through this. See here: http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/lsb-forum/showthread.php?t=35750&highlight=Ronney

Prior to that, some years ago I had a litter of 9 pups get into rat bait brought down from it's very high shelf by rats. By the time I found the pups and empty container I had no idea whether the pups had eaten it or the rats. The following morning saw blue vomit and craps and the whole lot went to the vet to be treated with VK. This treatment went on for several weeks and cost a fortune but they all survived and I still have one of those pups 7 years down the track. Others went on to make good working dogs. Rat bait is now kept in a cupboard in the laundry rather than the shed where rats on a hunger hunt can access it themselves.

I have owned dogs for the better part of 40 years and every last one of them has been a scavenger to some degree. Yours was no different and with the best will in the world, you cannot have eyes in the back of your head, know everything about everything or be infallible (sp?). We all do our best to keep our pets and stock safe but sometimes we fail.

Cheers,
Ronnie

one of the farm dogs ate an entire bag of tux once... couldn't move for days.

then tried it with a bucket of brodifacoum (rat bait)... a 2000$ trip to the vet...

Hi Jennie - sorry, can't help with a solution as I haven't been in that situation, but I just wanted to say how sorry I am at the loss of your dog. Such an awful thing to happen, and it must have been a terrible experience for you and the farm owners.
Cheers, Mich.

There are some chemicals that have no antidote, so before taking the animal to the vet it is a good idea to try to find what the chemical in the product actually is. Before anti-cat and anti-dog chemicals were put into snail poison, my Dad used to get quite a few warfarin poisonings. Unless you knew that Snail Poison X had chemical Y in it, you had to find out what chemical Y actually was before you could even start to decide whether to treat it.
I had a similar situation where Spot, my wall-eyed wonder dog ("I wonder why he did that?, I wonder where he has gone now?"), ate sandwiches with ivomectin in them for killing the worms in lots of donkeys. He ate about 40 times more than a safe dose. The vet could not do anything except tell us to keep him quiet and warm until he died or got better. He got better, and died last year at 15 yo, after an exciting life of chasing sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys and .... cars .

I have had my dog eat a few items he wasn't supposed to.
One day he ate 4 days worth of medication. I rang the vets to let them know I was coming in and they met me at the door and he went straight in after I had explained what he had taken.
On another occasion he managed to get hold of a tube of flea treatment and bit the container. As it was a small amount I rang the poisons centre and they were extremely helpful.
Most vets will not mind if you give them a ring and to find out whether you need to bring them in. If in doubt - ring first.

Thanks for all your messages. I was in the back county and was told by the owner there was no other poison around and it was over 2 years old so wouldn't be harmful anymore. I went to the wrong person for information unfortunatley. I was wondering if for dog owners, getting information on what to do when you suspect or know your dog has been in contact with poison has been issue for you especially when travelling. Cheers Jennie

Thanks Ruth for your reply. Two questions, Do you have a concern about managing your dog(s) in the environment with the amount of toxins around, natural and man-made? And, do you have a concern about being able to readily access veterinary services when you are travelling with your animals when you suspect something but need to get advice?

Thanks Ronnie for your reply. Two questions, Do you have a concern about managing your dog(s) in the environment with the amount of toxins around, natural and man-made? And, do you have a concern about being able to readily access veterinary services when you are travelling with your animals when you suspect something but need to get advice?

Thanks Mich.

Thanks Akzle for your reply. I can't believe your dog ate a whole bag of tux and then rat bait! Two questions, Do you have a concern about managing your dog(s) in the environment with the amount of toxins around, natural and man-made? And, do you have a concern about being able to readily access veterinary services when you are travelling with your animals and you suspect something but need to get advice?

Thanks Longridge for your reply. Spot sounds a wonder dog! I agree you have to know the chemical and know what is poisonous to dogs like karaka berries. Two questions, Do you have a concern about managing your dog(s) in the environment with the amount of toxins around, natural and man-made? And, do you have a concern about being able to readily access veterinary services when you are travelling with your animals when you suspect something but need to get advice or you need to know what to look out for in certain areas like algae blooms?