Rat poison, weed killer and certain flowers and flower bulbs can harm pets.
Poison acts fast – so should you
Ask the Vet
Ester Van Luipen
A few weeks ago a lady came to the counter of my practice at the end of the day telling me that her dog had not been well and had been panting since early that morning. She thought this was because of the warm weather.
It was 15 degrees outside. This may be warm for Ireland, but would not be a reason of excessive panting for such a long time.
I asked her to go home as quickly as possible, fetch the dog and come back to the practice straight away: This was an emergency! Fifteen minutes later she was back with the dog and my biggest fear was confirmed. The dog had been poisoned with weed killer.
He was excessively panting and had a shockingly high temperature. I put the dog on an intravenous drip and gave him medication into the vein. Sadly, the dog died 15 minutes later.
Act fast
This tragedy could have been prevented. First of all, take action straight away.
The dog that died had already been sick for eight hours. By the time he was brought in, the poison had put such an enormous strain on all his organs, especially his heart, his body had simply given up.
If your dog has been poisoned, bring it to the vet as soon as you can. Even if it has been several hours. The animal’s ability to recover completely depends on the amount of poison taken and of the aggression of the poison itself. And most important: Keep your poison behind lock and key at all times and when you use it keep your animals away from it.
Common poisons
The most common poisons I see in this part of the country are rat poison, weed killer and poisoning because of ingestion of flowers and flower bulbs of tulips and daffodils. Tulips are for looking at, not for eating. Especially puppies like to chew flowers and bulbs, so keep an eye on them! Keep your animals locked up when you are putting weed killer on the lawn. Make sure the weed killer is completely dried up before you let the animals back out.
Instead of using rat poison, why not get a cat (or two or three)? Neuter them and treat and feed them well. Otherwise they go and work for the neighbours.
Esther van Luipen is a veterinary surgeon in Claremorris Small Animal Practice. Feel free to contact her with any of your small-animal concerns on 094 9373955 or at living@mayonews.ie.
