Rat Poison and Antifreeze Dangerous to Pets
By CCC Veterinary Student Priscella Galvin
Two common household products are the most common among poisoning our pets. They are for our use to help us but because of our pets being curious and prone to the sweet smells they are attracted and consume it. I am talking about…
RAT POISON
ANTI-FREEZE
The humane society says that there are at least 6,639 cases of rat poisoning and 10,000 cases of antifreeze poisonings a year.
Just a small amount of any of the two can result in kidney failure, impaired movement, and paralysis in the animal’s hind legs, generalized seizures, depression and death. Clinical signs can show from two to seven days. I remember going through it myself when my Chihuahua, Romeo, got poisoned not too long ago.
I came home from school and noticed he wasn’t himself, he was happy to see me but for some reason wouldn’t move from where he was and when he eventually caught up to where I was he couldn’t jump up, he simply fell down and that’s when I knew something was wrong so I called my dad and we took him to the vet and when we said what we had seen that was when my dad said, “Oh and he ate rat poison last night.”
I got so scared when I heard that, the staff rushed Romeo off to the back and one kept asking questions about how much did he eat, if he had thrown any of it back up and I didn’t know what to say. After all the information was taken all I kept hearing was, “If he were a larger dog…” “If he hadn’t eaten so much…” I was getting scared that I was about to lose my best friend because all I was hearing if, if..
After what seemed like hours they bring Romeo out he was happy and wagging his tail. They gave me his prescription and sent us home. I was lucky but there are other owners that are not simply because they did not see the signs.
My name is Priscella Raquel, I am a Veterinary Assisting student at Community Care College and I have had my love for animals for as long as I can remember and want to do the best I can to continue the well-being and proper care for our furry family members. I plan to keep learning and making a difference in the Veterinary community
If your pet should happen to be poisoned by a hazardous substance, contact your veterinarian immediately. Do not try to induce vomiting without consulting a veterinarian first.
The ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) is a good resource for any animal poison-related emergency, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If you think that your pet may have ingested a potentially poisonous substance, make the call that can make all the difference:
1-888-426-4435
(A $60 consultation fee may be applied to your credit card).
Note: Always be sure to keep the phone number of your VET and the Animal Poison Control Center near your phone.
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Great blog Priscella lots of information in there!! Im glad my study buddy was okay!!
Good info. Good to know symptoms of poisoning.
Great blog I would hv been so mad at my father for not letting me know earlier that my dog had eaten rat poison before. But am glad he was okay.
Thanks for your comments 🙂 I really appreciate it
Great blog..lots of info..vital for all pet owners. So happy Romeo is all right.good job.
I’m glad Romeo was ok! Great blog! A lot of valuable info people need to know!
What a very frightening story and how great that you took Romeo to the vet. On time. I have never experienced an animal being poisoned but my sister has and it was equally disturbing. It is challenging to figure out ways to take care of a rat or mouse problem when you have pets.
Great blog I have never had to go through anything like this with my animals.