First Aid for your poisoned pet continued

Other forms of poisoning that I see quite often in my practice are:

• From the ingestion of Warfarin (Coumadin). This is a preparation generally found in rodenticides that are sold commercially. They generally come as pellets or squares. The common name for this rodenticide is : Kerat Bait.{{more}}

Warfarin kills rats by interfering with the clotting factors in the blood, preventing it from forming clots. If the blood cannot clot, the rat bleeds to death. The same thing happens when your dog accidentally ingests this
poison.

After eating this substance, there is no immediate reaction by the dog. From my experience, it takes 3 – 5 days before signs of warfarin poisoning are observed. These signs could include:

a. Bleeding from the mouth and nose
b. Blood in the stool.
c. Bleeding in the chest, manifested by difficult breathing.
d. Bleeding in the abdominal cavity, manifested by distended tummy.
e. The mucus membranes may become pale (anemic).

If you catch your pet in the act of eating rat poison, you should induce vomiting immediately. This could be accomplished by mixing a warm saturated solution of salt and sugar and forcing your pet to drink. You could also pour hydrogen peroxide into the back of your pet’s mouth. Give between one and two teaspoons of the solution for every 10 lbs of body weight, so that, if the dog weighs 100 lbs, you should give 10 to 20 teaspoons in one dose. Wait 5 to 10 minutes to see if the dog vomits. If the animal vomits, take it to the vet right away. If not, administer another dose.

The antidote to this form of poisoning is Vitamin K.

• Poisonous frogs: Some types of frogs can cause severe poisonings when bitten by dogs. This is seen especially in those dogs that have a garden or back yard to run around in.

The clinical signs exhibited by this type of poisoning are similar to those caused by Sevin or other organo-phospherous poisonings.

In these cases, the recent activities of your dog are very important in diagnosing frog poisoning. For example, you need to find out if there were any other types of poisons that the animal could access; if the dog was in an area that is accessible to people who could feed food laced with poison; if the animal got out of the yard etc.

Some of the most common signs noted when a dog bites a poisonous frog are:

a. Profuse salivation.
b. Frothing from the mouth.
c. The dog initially runs around as if crazy, this is as a result of intense irritation to the mouth and Gastro intestinal tract.
d. There is generally ‘shooting’ diarrhea, caused by the irritation to the bowels.
e. If you open the mouth of the dog and look at the gums and mucus membranes, they will appear red and irritated.
f. The dog could fall to the ground and have severe muscular tremors, looking like seizures.

The first thing you do in this case is to wash out the mouth with copious amounts of water. A garden hose would be ideal. Wash for about 5 minutes.

If there is no improvement in the dog’s condition, get it to your veterinarian as soon as possible.

 For further information, contact: Dr. Collin Boyle
Unique Animal Care Co. Ltd.
Tele: 456 4981
Website: www.uniqueanimalcare.com