People often tend to use rat poison or rodenticide to kill the rats in their vicinity. Though these pest control agents are very effective they can be dangerous for your pets too. It's hard to believe but some people do make use of these chemicals to kill the dogs and cats in the neighborhood that bother them.
The ingredients in the poison are added so that it tastes good and this attracts not only the rats but also the dogs and cats in the area which fall prey to the poison pellets. The serious effects of ingestion range from internal bleeding to even death in many cases.
Rodenticide present in the market or stores is usually of three varieties, bromethalin, anticoagulants like warfarin and vitamin D or cholicalciferol. The anticoagulants are moderately effective and while the bromethalin causes death in 10 hours, the cholicalciferol takes one whole day to take effect.
You should be able to identify the symptoms in case your dog ingests rat poison. Here are some symptoms that are commonly observed in case of rat poisoning.
The dog feels dull and listless after ingestion of rat poison and avoids food. The gums which are normally bright pink in color turn pale pink or whitish gray in tinge.
You can also detect the poisoning by noticing the drool of the dog. A foamy drool points to ingestion of rat poison but this kind of foamy drool is also seen if the dog eats toads but blood tinged saliva with foaming is mostly due to poisoning. The blood in saliva may also be due to the presence of some cuts or bruises in the oral cavity. Verify this and if not you should get the dog's veterinarian to start the appropriate treatment immediately.
Internal bleeding is another symptom that clearly suggests poisoning and this can be observed by the presence of blood in the urine, vomit or feces of the dog. There is also nose bleeding as well as bleeding in the anal region. This can weaken the dog severely and if found this has to be reported to the veterinarian immediately.
Muscle tremors, lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and difficulty in breathing are a few other symptoms that indicate rat poison ingestion.
Getting medical aid as soon as possible once you suspect rat poisoning in your dog will help get the treatment he needs to keep him safe. You can also induce vomiting at home to get the poison out. If you fail to notice or are unaware of the implications of the various symptoms explained above you may ignore the symptoms and this may lead to severe internal bleeding and coma and may even result in the death of the dog.
Sometimes the dogs tend to prey upon rats that have ingested the poison. This too may affect the dog seriously but the intensity of damage is less when compared to ingestion of the poison directly. If you know for certain that your pet has ingested poison then you can induce vomiting.
Your pet will be safer if you take the necessary precautions like keeping him within your house or yard and avoiding the use of rat poison pellets. The manual rat traps are safer and better to the surroundings than the chemical poisoning agents.
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