A close call today

Garry Edwards

Garry Edwards

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Garry Edwards
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A phone call, earlier, from my youngest son.. He's a farmer and of course takes his working sheepdog, Win, to work with him.
He said that she had got hold of a lot of mouse poison that someone had left out, and had eaten the lot.
He told me that he didn't know what was in the poison.
I told him to find out and get her to the nearest vet immediately, ring ahead so the vet could be ready.
It took 40 minutes to get there across country, but that was within the 1 hour window that he had, a morphine injection made her very sick and all the poison seems to have been expelled without being digested. Some vitamin K to finish the job and she's now pretty much back to normal.

It's pointless covering up the small containers of rodent poison but leaving the overstock where other animals can get to it, and if something similar ever happens to your pet, just don't hesitate, there's no time to waste.
 
Lola, My Collie (Since left home) ate an enclosed plastic carton with mouse poison....like you say a race to the vet and an injection, some vomit and a huge vet bill as it was outside hours and both collies had to get the injection as in the beginning we hadn't realised that it was Lola and not Ollie.....
 
Aye - vit K

My lab ate rat bait when she was young.

Problem is knowing how much has been eaten and vit k treatment can be quite a long process.
 
A collie that was in our care managed to get hold of a tub of rat/mouse poison and gobble down most of what was left (thankfully not too much). She was absolutely fine, apart from some rather watery and bright blue number twos for a couple of days.
 
purpleclouds said:
A collie that was in our care managed to get hold of a tub of rat/mouse poison and gobble down most of what was left (thankfully not too much). She was absolutely fine, apart from some rather watery and bright blue number twos for a couple of days.
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Unfortunately it doesn't usually end well without prompt treatment. From previous experience, if she survived long term then she was extremely lucky
 
Glad Win has won and thanks for the heads up! (y)

On a more urban pet level, we once found Thimble, one of our Jack Russells, sitting looking very pleased with herself and licking the last crumbs from the chewed up wrapper of a 16oz block of chocolate!

We immediately phoned the vet and she asked what brand of chocolate? "It was a bar of Galaxy" Her reply was to keep an eye on her but not necessarily to worry too much - Galaxy, she explained, is mainly fat and sugar with very little cocoa! :D

In fact Thimbs didn't even get the squits!
 
Many years ago there was a spate of dogs dying from eating poison bait left out for foxes etc. totally illegal I know
but it happened.
More recently there was a post on the local FB page about dogs being poisoned by certain kinds of fungus growing on sticks
they have picked up on walks to chew and play with, never had a problem with that but it's scarey to think it's
happening.
I must admit I always tried to stop my dogs playing with sticks due to the more major risk of injury
 
Gremlin said:
Many years ago there was a spate of dogs dying from eating poison bait left out for foxes etc. totally illegal I know
but it happened.
More recently there was a post on the local FB page about dogs being poisoned by certain kinds of fungus growing on sticks
they have picked up on walks to chew and play with, never had a problem with that but it's scarey to think it's
happening.
I must admit I always tried to stop my dogs playing with sticks due to the more major risk of injury
Click to expand...
There was a spate of dogs becoming ill from a mystery source in the new forset recently. I'm not sure they figured that one out..
 
Gremlin said:
Many years ago there was a spate of dogs dying from eating poison bait left out for foxes etc. totally illegal I know
but it happened.
More recently there was a post on the local FB page about dogs being poisoned by certain kinds of fungus growing on sticks
they have picked up on walks to chew and play with, never had a problem with that but it's scarey to think it's
happening.
I must admit I always tried to stop my dogs playing with sticks due to the more major risk of injury
Click to expand...


Seen that happen to a dog that picked up a thrown stick end on then ran and stumbled. Stick was impaled in it's throat ............... emergency surgery. Vet's can recount many stories of stick related injuries. Infected splinter wounds in the mouth are common. My first lab broke a thrown stick and a piece jamned against the roof of his mouth between his canine teeth. First I knew of it was him pawing at his face. Luckily I was able to pull it out. I now keep to throwing balls in the garden and proper throwing dummies on walks.
 
The world is also full of horror stories relating to dogs v chicken bones, so when my GSD pinched and ate an entire chicken,my first call was to my vet. He said that in 35 years as a vet he had never seen an issue, and to keep an eye on here for (as he called it) "stone poo".

I'm not comparing it to poisoning, but I am comparing it to knee jerk reactions re sticks and stones.
 
Glad the dogs OK Garry :)

There are a few different anti-coagulant rodenticides on the market,
(and classed as "second generation" over the old fashioned warfarin)
But they all work in much the same way, and all have the same treatment.
Vit K1 jab.

So no matter which one it is, the vet should instinctively given a K1 shot.

For those that are interested, two of the most common ones in use.

This is the data sheet for Ratak, ( Difenacoum (Content (W/W): 0.005 %) quite a common use one, as its a wax block and "weather proof"
Although having said that All rodenticides should be in tamper-proof bait stations, and not just scattered
The LD 50 is around 36,000Mg / Kg, so a dog would have to consume a vast quantity to actually die from it.

Or Bromatebait is another in common use, its
a whole wheat bait impregnated with Bromadiolone (W/W 0.005% )
Again there are purpose made bait stations for administering grain bait to target species.
This bait "rots" (and clumps together) very quickly, becomes ineffective once damp.
 
I never ever throw sticks for my dogs now, a couple of years ago our Jack Russell went to get a stick I had just thrown, he ran onto it and the stick went under his tongue through into the back of his head. He survived after emergency surgery and a very hefty vet bill (he was insured). I hate to see people throwing sticks for their dogs as ive seen first hand what damage they can do, my vet says he has to treat many stick injuries :(
 
AHILL said:
Please tell me you are joking! :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...

Seems not by the the responses :thinking: dunno why you find it funny.

My own lovely GSD was speared on a stick when jumping into the local canal, I would imagine it had been thrown in by someone
for their own dog, luckily it went in parallel to the skin so not serious injury but it could have been
 
Cobra said:
Glad the dogs OK Garry :)

There are a few different anti-coagulant rodenticides on the market,
(and classed as "second generation" over the old fashioned warfarin)
But they all work in much the same way, and all have the same treatment.
Vit K1 jab.

So no matter which one it is, the vet should instinctively given a K1 shot.

For those that are interested, two of the most common ones in use.

This is the data sheet for Ratak, ( Difenacoum (Content (W/W): 0.005 %) quite a common use one, as its a wax block and "weather proof"
Although having said that All rodenticides should be in tamper-proof bait stations, and not just scattered
The LD 50 is around 36,000Mg / Kg, so a dog would have to consume a vast quantity to actually die from it.

Or Bromatebait is another in common use, its
a whole wheat bait impregnated with Bromadiolone (W/W 0.005% )
Again there are purpose made bait stations for administering grain bait to target species.
This bait "rots" (and clumps together) very quickly, becomes ineffective once damp.
Click to expand...
Thanks for that, it turned out to be Ratak. she did in fact eat a hell of a lot and the vet was very concerned until she sicked it up undigested, and even complete with packaging..
I lost one of my GSD's to rat poison about 25 years ago, she only ate a small quantity. She had the runs for a couple of days, it was only after that that I found that she had eaten a tray of rat poison - I don't know what it was but it may well have been Warfarin.

She was up and down for many months, the vet didn't find out what the problem was while she was alive, then one night she bled to death in front of me
 
Garry Edwards said:
Thanks for that, it turned out to be Ratak. she did in fact eat a hell of a lot and the vet was very concerned until she sicked it up undigested, and even complete with packaging..
I lost one of my GSD's to rat poison about 25 years ago, she only ate a small quantity. She had the runs for a couple of days, it was only after that that I found that she had eaten a tray of rat poison - I don't know what it was but it may well have been Warfarin.
She was up and down for many months, the vet didn't find out what the problem was while she was alive, then one night she bled to death in front of me
Click to expand...

I'm surprised she had a good go at it (Ratak) as it has "biterex" added to it. (It tastes bloody horrible)
But then its really more a deterrent to young humans.

And I guess dogs have a different "taste tolerance" to us humans.
Warfarin tends to be red, (*and the faeces would also have a red tint to it)
while most other impregnated grain baits these days tend to be blue.
(*Same applies)

As it was 25 years ago My money would be on Warfarin.
And probably in much higher doses than are allowed these days.

As you probably know, that's how these poisons work.
just minor internal damage and they bleed to death quite quickly.

Sorry to her that you lost "her" :(
 
Someone on the farm left it out Gary or was it just somewhere on the farm and say flavoured. Just wondered if it was a throwback to other events with sons.
 
Byker28i said:
Someone on the farm left it out Gary or was it just somewhere on the farm and say flavoured. Just wondered if it was a throwback to other events with sons.
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From what I understand, the contractors refilled all the various bait in the yard buildings and forgot to put the overstock away, just carelessness.
Farms are probably one of the most hazardous working environments there are, but the risks are generally obvious.
This doesn't seem to link to his earlier problems, he has been there for over a year, gets on well with the other guys and the people there like his dog too, she's a good sheep dog and saves them all work
 
Garry Edwards said:
From what I understand, the contractors refilled all the various bait in the yard buildings and forgot to put the overstock away, just carelessness.
Click to expand...
TBH that is actually against the BPCA code of practice,
Leaving bait on site,
for the very reason that this thread was started.

I assume that they are BPCA Pt I / 2 or RSPH level II qualified?
Otherwise boot them out and find someone that is.
TBH I'd boot them out and report them had that been my land
and my dog.
 
Really glad to hear that he got to the vets in time and all's well with Win, Garry.
And it really is a lesson about not waiting around to see whether the dog will be "OK".

BTW I also add my name to the list of members who have had an injured dog and a hefty vet bill as a result of stick throwing (this was about 20 years ago and was an infected splinter in the dog's throat)
I used to put the whole 'don't throw sticks' thing down as being over-protective or scare-mongering too until I experienced it first-hand.
Throw-toys have come out on every walk since.
Luke's no longer with us (old age not anything related to the stick incident) but the same applies for Stella now too.
 
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Garry Edwards said:
Unfortunately it doesn't usually end well without prompt treatment. From previous experience, if she survived long term then she was extremely lucky
Click to expand...

Undoubtedly, I think we were lucky she may have only had a small amount - but certainly enough to upset the stomach regardless!
 
Glad Win is ok. It can easily happen I guess, just takes one moment of brain failure.

We had similar with our collie but it was slug pellets - apparently there is no antidote to slug pellets, how can you allow a poison to be sold that hasn't an antidote? The vets were superb with ours, thankfully.
 
PaulButler said:
Glad Win is ok. It can easily happen I guess, just takes one moment of brain failure.

We had similar with our collie but it was slug pellets - apparently there is no antidote to slug pellets, how can you allow a poison to be sold that hasn't an antidote? The vets were superb with ours, thankfully.
Click to expand...
I think it's the same answer, i.e. an injection to make the dog violently sick, and just a case of knowing about it and taking immediate action.

The problem we had was travelling time, it's a very rural area and the choice was a land rover by road or a tractor that could go across country as well as on the road, it must be much easier in cities where a vet is only a few minutes away...
 
Garry Edwards said:
I think it's the same answer, i.e. an injection to make the dog violently sick, and just a case of knowing about it and taking immediate action.

The problem we had was travelling time, it's a very rural area and the choice was a land rover by road or a tractor that could go across country as well as on the road, it must be much easier in cities where a vet is only a few minutes away...
Click to expand...
They sedated Milly, quite heavily too and put her on a drip. I'm sure it must be easier in a city, but I'm fairly rural too, vets are 25 minutes away without traffic, still that is better than an hour or so. From her eating the poison to being in the vets was no more than an hour, as you say time is of the essence. The good thing though in both cases is that it has ended well :)
 
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