# Dog or dogs ate rat poison



## shadowboom (Mar 28, 2009)

Hello all,

Yesterday I got home after a long work day and when i opened my garage door, i was surprised to see my 2 dogs in the garage. Apparently the door from the outside into the garage wasn't pushed shut all the way and they got in sometime between 8 am and 6 pm.

I put them outside and went about my business. 2-3 hours later it dawned on me that I had placed some d-con wedge traps in the garage last fall to take care of some field mice. I went into the garage and discovered the entire wedge style box had been eaten and all that remained was half of the cardboard. I immediately called the dogs and they looked fine. By this time it was around 845 pm. I immediately called my vet and he could not be reached. I called another vet clinic and they agreed to come in for $300 fee. I took the dogs in and the vet kept them overnight. He injected them both with something to make them vomit and also pumped their stomachs with charcoal. No poison was found in the vomit so either 6 hours had passed since ingestion or they had vomited somewhere and i can't find it.

The doctor gave them vitamin k shots and i picked them up this morning with 168 vitamin k pills with orders to give them 2 pills each, twice a day.
Bill so far is $810.00.

My concern is the fact that no poison was found and we still don't know which dog ate it. My golden is 80 lbs and 5 years old, my lab is 60 lbs and 3 years old. I am keeping them confined in a small room to keep activity down but am worried. What should I do or look for? What are the chances of it killing them?


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## spruce (Mar 13, 2008)

I'm sure someone can give you help/advice...but, just thinking, the stuff is meant to kill mice which are much smaller than a retriever so maybe, dependng on the amount digested, it won't be harmful (?)

hoping it all turns out well.....& thanks for the reminder of keeping toxics in inaccessible places


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

The danger from the rat poison is bleeding.... the forced vomiting is of course to remove any undigested poison from the system. The vitamin K helps clotting....counteracting the poison. If you notice bloody stools or really anything signifying blood get them in asap. That being said, this not all that unusual an occurence and most dogs do fine after treatment. Entirely possible that the poison was eaten by the intended rodents , isn't it??? Please keep us posted and give them some extra TLC


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## Noey (Feb 26, 2009)

it's good they are on the treatment. Since you can't tell who ate what both need it. Same thing happened to my brothers dogs. A GSD about a year old and an older Lab. They were pretty sure the younger of the two ate most...not sure about the lab. But to be on the safe side treated both. You only have a short window where they can give the K in order to help. Both of hers turned out fine, but I think it was several weeks on K.

Hope all works out well. Your vet should be able to give you a list of things to look out for. I know this will be a stressful time for you, my thoughts are with you.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

At least two other members have had dogs eat rat poison. They were treated and given Vitamin K, too. They're fine now. You did the right thing by bringing them in and having them treated. I'm not sure of what you should look for. I'm sure it's on the Internet somewhere. I'll have to take a look.

I don't know how reliable this site is:
http://www.dogsymptomscure.com/dog-rat-poison-symptoms.php

"When dogs eat rat poison they will not show symptoms immediately. Signs of illness will usually be seen within few weeks.
Dogs especially puppies can also get rat poison into their body by eating dying mouse or corpse that has already eaten bait pellets. This is called secondary poisoning.
One of the major problems is that it is hard to know the exact time or day when your dog ate the mouse and what type of poison those rat ate before. It is usually too late to give treatments by the time symptoms such as bleeding is clearly seen from external.
When using rat poison, you should be aware that the toxic chemicals inside bait pellets does not killed mouse immediately. It usually take about a few days to show the result. During this few days period vermin can go to many different places before they actually dies so you should not let your dog go outside and unsupervised. Clean up yards and garbages whenever possible to greatly reduce the risk.
You might notice that many dog rat poison symptoms are similar to other kinds of illness and severity depend mainly on quantity of the poison ingested and type of chemical.
Dog rat poison symptoms


dull
reject food
saliva is mixed with blood
internal bleeding from gums, lung
external bleeding from nose (epistaxis), rectum (hematochezia)
bright green stool which is caused by eating rat bait pellets
bloody urine (hematuria) or stool (melena)
blood coagulation
excitation
drooling
slobbering
uncoordinated gait
muscle tremors
weakness
cold
inability to stand
mild cough
breathing difficulty
mental depression
vomiting
diarrhea
coma
extensive bruising
lung problems
fatigue
hair loss
Dog rat poison treatment
If you are sure that your [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]pet[/color][/color] ingested rat poison then you should immediately induce vomitting and take your dog to your [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]veterinarian[/color][/color] as quick as possible and do not let them eat or drink anything after vomit.
The faster you take your dog to your vet and get rat poison treatments, the higher chance of cure and survival rate"


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## Noey (Feb 26, 2009)

Its very good that they had no symptoms...when symptoms start it's worse for the dog. I wish I knew stats and answers for you. But I do know its better for them if they have not already displayed active symptoms.


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## shadowboom (Mar 28, 2009)

thanks for the replies. I'm sure one of them ate it because they were chewing on the box and I know it was not empty.
They had even licked up the spot where it was.

I called another vet and they told me to watch the stools, watch their gums and nose for blood, and to keep them "not very active" meaning no rough playing.
I guess i will just have to wait and see what happens over the next few days and keep feeding them vitamin k.
I have since swept up the entire garage and threw away all d-con. I will stick to glue traps from now on.


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## kjarv24 (Nov 7, 2008)

Welcome to GRF First of all! 
I have no help for you, but just wanted to say I hope your (Goldens?) Are Okay!
How Scary!! Let us know how they are doing.


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## Phoebe (Feb 8, 2006)

Years ago, my first golden, Lucy, ate a commercial size box of rat poison. Our neighbor had it in his yard and his landscapers placed in near the property line while planting trees, Lucy was on a tie out and was able to get to it. Lucy got seriously ill, throwing up blood, we didn't even know she had gotten into any rat poison because we didn't have any on our property. She was very sick, but she did survive...she was three at the time and lived to be 16 and that box of poison was no small box, it was a box they use in warehouses and when my neighbor found the empty box he was able to tell me the box was full when he put it out only a few days before. 

It is always important to see a vet and make sure your dogs are fine, but if it was a small box of poison and your dog is 80 pounds, I think (HOPE and PRAY) that your dog will be okay. Lucy ended dying from cancer and I don't know if the rat poison contributed or not, but she did live ten years after the incident. The size of that box of poison...took my breath away. I was so blessed she survived.


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## shadowboom (Mar 28, 2009)

thanks for the reply and sorry for your loss.
Your story gives me hope though.

Also, my golden and lab just went to the bathroom and i observed the feces. It was very black (charcoal i think) and one pile had little pieces of yellow cardboard in it from the poison box. Problem again is that they both went to the bathroom and i don't know who's stool it was........... argh


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## coppers-mom (Jan 9, 2009)

My GoldenX ate part of a a rat a few years ago after I had had the pesticide guy out. He had put out poison and I told him to remove it all, but wasn't sure he did so I freaked out and we rushed to the vet.
Copper is 70 - 75 pounds. My vet was completely unconcerned (maybe not so good now that I read this :doh and said Copper could eat three rats and not have a problem. He checked the inner surface of the ears first and said that is where bleeding would first show up.
That was secondary poisoning at best so different from primary. I hope your guys do well.:crossfing
You paid the vet enough they should give you some phone consults! Not always true though I know.


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## shadowboom (Mar 28, 2009)

dogs are doing fine, today is day 5
both are receiving 50mg of vitamin k twice a day orally (100mg each per day)


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## shadowboom (Mar 28, 2009)

dogs doing ok, no signs of anything wrong. Still giving them 100mg of vitamin k a day.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

Good news!


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## Noey (Feb 26, 2009)

oh good! that's great news.


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

I just found this thread. I'm glad that your dogs are doing well. My sister's little Yorkie died from suspected rat poisoning. He had excessive thirst also, which is not listed in the symptoms Kim posted. He was vomiting and lethargic with excessive thirst when she found him. He died before she could get him to the Vet. His little 5 lb body couldn't handle even a small amount of poison. He was fine when they all went to bed and was failing by the time the kids got up to go to school. By the time the bus arrived, he had passed. The neighbors were suspected of having put rat poison out for him, they had literally kicked him across the street before, but no proof could be found.


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## shadowboom (Mar 28, 2009)

still doing good and eating vitamin k


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

hey that's great news!


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