Dog Food Poisoning - Symptoms and Treatment

Poisoning refers to the effects of toxic substances entering the body. It can happen by chance or intentionally. Unfortunately, dogs are not as picky as humans. The most dangerous for them are acute poisoning, which is very difficult and can cause disability or death.

Often, dogs eat everything that comes before their eyes, including completely inedible objects and substances. For this reason, it is the dog owners who are most often to blame for poisoning themselves.

Causes of Dog Poisoning

Poisoning is intentional and unintentional. In an unintentional way, the animal can be poisoned on its own by negligence. Intentional poisoning happens when the owners or other people used obviously toxic substances to kill the dog.

1. Eating stale food. Many believe that these animals can eat anything, and their body is able to cope with any inedible substances that are dangerous to humans. However, food that is not suitable for food can cause acute food poisoning with all its consequences.
2. Dog accessibility to household chemicals. Any chemical products can cause very severe poisoning in a pet. Its cause may be home care products, cosmetics, poisons of all kinds and household chemicals. Poisons for the extermination of rodents, insects and parasites are especially dangerous.
3. Anthelmintics. Substances that are designed to get rid of parasites in the body, with the wrong dosage and non-observance of the rules of admission, can cause severe poisoning.
4. The use of low-quality dry food for dogs. Outbred yard dogs, the owners of which save on high-quality nutrition, most often suffer from it. Moreover, they often give food of unknown production for food, which are several times cheaper than high-quality ones.
5. Walking unattended through the territory near the house. With an independent walk, the dog can eat something that absolutely can not be eaten, for example, spoiled food or vegetables in the country, which are treated with poisons. In addition, some poisonous plants and flowers, belladonna, henbane, dope and many others can cause poisoning.

Important! In recent years, there has been a movement of activists called doghunters. The activity of these movements is the extermination of stray dogs. For this reason, walking in big cities can end in a tragic way. They exterminate dogs with the help of special baits with poisons that are scattered in places of walking. Having picked up such a bait on the street, the dog may simply die. Recently, many cases of poisoning of domestic animals have been recorded, which are associated precisely with the activities of this movement.

Types of Poisoning

Any poisoning in dogs can be caused by food and non-food, as well as external factors.

1. Food poisoning occurs after eating poisonous or spoiled foods, the shelf life of which is long gone. Bacteria begin to develop in them, which, when ingested, begin to multiply actively, affecting all internal organs. They are not as dangerous as chemicals, but they can also be fatal.
2. Non-food poisoning can provoke chemicals that are unsuitable for eating.This may be household chemicals, poisons, means to combat insects and other pests.

Signs

The clinical picture depends directly on the substance that poisoned the animal. Each of them in any particular case can have a different effect on the dog's body. These symptoms include:

• drowsiness, lethargy and lethargy;
• the appearance of trembling in the body and limbs, fever;
• increase in body temperature;
• increased salivation, possibly with blood;
• the occurrence of vomiting and nausea;
• the presence of seizures and paralysis;
• the development of diarrhea;
• increased breathing and acceleration of the heart rhythm, or vice versa;
• sudden changes in behavior, which are characterized by oppression or overexcitation.

In this case, the symptoms develop suddenly and gradually increase. The animal’s condition worsens, others, more dangerous and severe, join the first symptoms.

In case of poisoning with rat poison, feces can contain blood impurities, body temperature rises, pallor of the mucous membranes of the eyes and mouth is observed. The dog's heart palpitates, which may be accompanied by periodic whining or disturbed barking.

With isoniazid poisoning, the symptoms are somewhat different. The pet has confusion, disorientation, when he walks, he staggers, begins to lose balance. These symptoms are accompanied by vomiting, drowsiness, the release of foam from the mouth, possibly with bloody impurities, respiratory depression, prolonged cramps, then a coma or lethargic sleep occurs.

How to help

When the dog has symptoms of poisoning, immediate action is required. Every minute is very important, since poisons quickly spread throughout the body, disrupting its work, thereby exacerbating the condition and reducing the chance of recovery. Gradually, all organs and systems are affected by the action of a toxic substance.

The first thing to do is to neutralize the toxic substances contained in the body or digestive tract. In case of food poisoning, vomiting should be provoked with a saline solution: stir 15 grams of salt in a glass of warm water or dilute hydrogen peroxide with water 50 to 50 and give the dog.

When insect bites, you need to find a bite place and invite something very cold there. For example, wrap a piece of ice in a handkerchief and attach to the affected area. When snake bites, it is urgent to take measures to remove the poison from the bite, then consult a veterinarian. For the period of transportation, a cold compress is applied to the affected area to prevent the spread of poison throughout the body. If the bite is on a limb, a tourniquet can be applied.

If poisonous substances get on the skin, rinse this area with plenty of water. If poisoning occurred when exposed to vapors with chemical compounds - it is necessary to transport the animal to a well-ventilated place. If the dog was poisoned by gasoline vapor or turpentine, this poisoning may be accompanied by convulsions and vomiting. The pet must be given 50 ml of vegetable oil and after 30 minutes a laxative.

If the cause of poisoning was Isoniazid

1. The first thing to do is give the animal a saline solution, and then any available sorbent. Activated carbon is given at the rate of 1 tablet per 10 kg of body weight.
2. Then it is necessary to give the pet a sorbent, for example, activated carbon or other similar preparations. “Human” ones are quite suitable: Atoxil, White coal, Enterosgel and others.
3. After this, antidotes are used, often pyridoxine.
4. The animal is required to give a large amount of drink, water or milk and immediately consult a veterinarian.

Treatment

Poisoning very often causes the death of the animal, so measures must be taken urgently.

1. In case of food poisoning, vomiting is necessary and then the dog is given adsorbents. As sorbents, you can use activated charcoal, egg white, burnt magnesia, kaolin. In their absence, you can use tightly brewed tea, give more milk, use a solution of potassium permanganate.
2. To permanently remove toxins from the body, gastric lavage will be required using a probe. If the poisoning happened more than 2 hours ago, the dog is given enemas with water at a temperature of no more than 30 degrees using salt in a proportion of 1 tbsp. l per liter of water.
3. Then a set of therapeutic measures is carried out, which is prescribed by the veterinarian after the exact determination of the cause of poisoning. It depends on what exactly provoked a toxic effect on the dog's body. In case of poisoning with rat poisons, the animal is given antidotes in the form of vitamins and special preparations. Then, solutions of drugs such as Trisol, Glucose Ringerlock and others are injected dropwise.
4. Along the way, a medicine is prescribed to eliminate the symptoms and improve the general condition, diuretics, iron preparations, and others are prescribed.

However, the first thing to do is immediately deliver the pet to the veterinary clinic. Only qualified assistance can protect the animal from death and prevent possible consequences for its health.

Preventative measures

The possibility of poisoning in a dog depends on its upbringing. The owner must accustom his pet to the fact that it is not necessary to pick up whatever is on the street, eat unfamiliar plants and take refreshments from other people. It must be remembered that a properly raised animal that receives a sufficient amount of properly balanced food will in no way pick up anything inedible.

The following tips will help protect the animal from poisoning:

1. During the walk you need to look after the animal. Time to remove spoiled products from the house and the site.
2. Make sure that chemicals, medicines, poisons are out of the reach of the dog.
3. Take care of the animal’s health. It is important to diversify the diet with vegetables, cereals, periodically give vitamin-mineral complexes. The amount of food should be sufficient, and nutrition - timely.
4. To accustom the animal to a certain diet and food consumption in any one particular place, from his own bowl, but in no case from the floor and not from his hands, especially from strangers.
5. If in the private sector there is a plot nearby where food is grown, care must be taken to ensure that it is sufficiently fenced. Since, one way or another, plants are treated with poisons and other chemicals that can protect the crop from pests and diseases.

Despite the fact that dogs are more stable than humans, they are also prone to poisoning with substances that are toxic to them as well as to humans. At the first suspicions of poisoning, it is urgent to take measures, otherwise everything can end in a tragic way. Particular attention should be paid to those animals that have the possibility of independent walking. At the first suspicion of poisoning, it is necessary to give the pet an adsorbent and deliver it to a veterinary clinic or call a specialist at home.

Video: first aid for dog poisoning