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Suspected Poisoning
The two poisonings we see most often are rat poison and slug pellets, though we also see chocolate poisoning (especially over Christmas), and various incidents involving dogs eating prescription medicines. Where possible, please bring the container and as much paperwork as possible regarding the items you think your pet may have eaten.
- Rat and mouse poisons are generally anti-coagulants - this means they slow down or stop the process of blood clotting. Symptoms vary, but can include obvious blood loss, bruising, blood in urine (sometimes brown rather than red), vomiting blood or a coffee ground type material and passing blood in stools, which can appear dark and tarry. Most rat poisons are slow acting and require the ingestion of significant amounts of poison over and extended period, however, as symptoms can be difficult to control once they are advanced, we generally recommend inducing vomiting if an animal is thought to have eaten poison in the last few hours. A specific antidote is available for most of the rat poisons, but due to their slow action prolonged (several week) treatment may be required. Please contact the duty vet as soon as you are aware of the dog eating the poison. Please have the label to hand and/or bring the box with you as this aids our decision making in each case.
- Slug pellets are generally palatable to dogs as they need to be attractive to slugs. These are often found around agricultural buildings in late summer as they are used by some vegetable farmers. The symptom of poisoning is usually fitting, and as there is no specific antidote, and symptoms may be difficult to control, then survival rates can be poor. Inducing vomiting of recently eaten poison is essential where possible. Please contact the duty vet as soon as you are aware of the possibility of your dog having eaten slug pellets.
- Other toxic incidents we see regularly involve the pet eating chocolate, and various prescription only medicines (especially in puppies). It is important to bring the packaging (if it survives) or other paperwork relevant to the medicine as well as an estimation of the amount likely to have been eaten, as we need this information to decide on the appropriate treatment. In such cases we have 24 hour access to the National Veterinary Poisons Information Service, who can help given their wide experience of previous incidents nationwide