Rat Poison (Rodenticide) Treatment In Dogs And Cats
Rat poison.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
If your pet is in any way exposed to modern rat poisons it is a medical emergency that you cannot put off. “Exposed” includes having been in the vicinity of the poison and you’re not sure whether he actually ate any or not.
Most of today’s rodenticides work by interrupting the body’s blood clotting systems, resulting in fatal bleeding. Even though they are called “rodent”-icides, they will kill any mammal that ingests them. Many rat poisons will also kill birds and fish.
The potency of rat poison has been ramped up dramatically over the last twenty years. “Poison corn” of three decades ago killed a lot of mice and rats, as well as many dogs, cats and not a few people. Still, if a victim was found quickly, vomiting was induced and anti-anticoagulant treatment was instituted for a week or so, the victim survived.
Not so today’s rodenticides. They can be fatal in extremely small amounts and their effect can last for thirty days and beyond.Treatment starts with removing the poison by inducing vomiting if it was ingested recently. While this can be a good test for whether poison was actually eaten, it is not foolproof. Poison eaten several hours before emesis (vomiting) therapy may have moved too far into the digestive tract to be vomited up. Further, because these poisons are effective in such small amounts, if a pet or person vomits some up we still don’t know whether he vomited all of the poison, and enough might be left behind that it could still be fatal.
Therefore, the usual course of therapy after vomiting is to begin anti-anticoagulant therapy with an injection, followed by oral therapy for thirty days or more.
In cases where the ingestion time is unknown and the patient is already symptomatic (blood in the stool, urine and/or vomitus, bleeding under the skin, in the whites of the eyes, inside the eyes or other locations around the body), not only must anti-anticoagulant therapy be given but blood products must also be provided in case the patient has used up all of his own clotting mechanisms. When Jasmon came to see us today her owner had merely seen her standing over the area where a cake of rat poison was. There was none in her teeth and she vomited twice for us and we saw no trace of poison. Jasmon might have been fine with no further treatment at all, but waiting is simply too risky.
Waiting might have cost Jasmon her life.
See you tomorrow, Dr. Randolph.
MMRODENT
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116 Comments to “Rat Poison (Rodenticide) Treatment In Dogs And Cats”
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I’ve looked into other causes because I could deal with it better if it was a natural death and not poison. But she was in excellent health, we had a blood panel done on her annually and she was at the veterinarian that Tuesday, 5 days previous. If she had some sort of bleeding disorder, wouldn’t we have known that through the blood panels and regular physical exams? Would she have shown some symptoms? She ate normally the day before, she never bled externally, there was no blood in her stool, she didn’t seem sick or weak at all until the day she died. It happened so fast. The emergency veterinarian knew she was bleeding internally when we brought her in. He asked about rat poison and about being hit by a car. But she bled several places, not just one like if she had been hit by a car and nothing like that happened. My whole family was over the day before and all are shocked because they saw her and she was fine. The veterinarian said after that she bled into her abdomen, her ankle swelling was actually blood in her joint, and she bled into her brain last, when she died. She is a lab weighing 90 pounds. We live in the suburbs of Chicago, IL, and have a fenced yard.
Dear Ms. Depner, How very sad for you to have lost your baby. I’m sorry that nothing could be done for her. I wish I could give you some answers, but without laboratory testing and possibly a necropsy it would be difficult to say what the rest of the story is. Other causes of bleeding are many. Among them, one of the more common causes is Immune Mediated Thrombocytopenia (IMTP or AITP). Certainly, wild animals who have died from rodenticides can be ingested by domesticated pets, causing “secondary” rodenticide poisoning. Are there sick people out there who would poison your dog? Certainly, but the above possibilities are more likely, especially in the absence of prior problems or threats.
Doctor, my dog died from what the emergency veterinarian said was rat poisoning on Dec. 18. She was 5 years old and in perfect health. She didn’t show any symptoms that I saw until the night of the 17th going into the 18th and that day. She had diarrhea overnight, then later in the day one ankle began to swell. I thought her diarrhea was no big deal as she had it before and we had a party the day before where she ate more than usual because she had some of the food from the party. I looked at the rest of her body when her ankle swelled and her other limbs and body looked fine, so I thought she had twisted her ankle. She was moving around throughout the day, but didn’t eat and slowed down as the day went on. I attributed it to an upset tummy and her ankle being sore. Then she collapsed and lost mental alertness that night and that is when we went to the emergency veterinarian. They could not save her, she died within an hour. They gave her fluids, but no plasma. She bled into her brain, I think she was already in a coma when we got to the hospital because she didn’t respond at all. My own veterinarian has not been willing to answer any questions and I am devasted. I don’t know how she could have gotten the poison because she was only in our yard the week prior. I am afraid someone did this to her on purpose. I searched the yard and found nothing and no one has ever complained about her. Are these usually accidental when the dog’s owner does not know where the poison came from? Could it have been a bird that was poisoned that she ate? Or could an animal like a squirrel or possum have carried the poison into our yard? Can you please give me some information? I am afraid now and don’t know if our yard is safe. I feel so guilty that I did not take her to the hospital sooner, but I thought her symptoms were something else that was not serious and the thought of poison would have never entered my mind because I would never use such a thing. I don’t even know if the diarrhea was from the poison or if it was just regular diarrhea. There was no blood in her stool.
SuperN, our hearts go out to you on the loss of your precious Cheyenne. Sadly, unless there is an index of suspicion that leads a practitioner to perform a chemistry profile to determine that there is a change in calcium levels, it may be too late by the time one discovers a vitamin D rodenticide is the offending agent.. A thoroughly heartbreaking outcome.
I cannot even begin to tell you the heartbreak of losing a pet to a rodenticide, especially when you don’t have any on your property and the puppy has not been out of a fenced yard. I just lost a beautiful 4 month old Australian shepherd baby girl to Vitamin D rodenticide poisoning which was identified on autopsy (necropsy). I noticed a difference in Cheyenne’s energy level about a week prior to going to the veterinarian’s but she was eating and drinking just fine with no vomiting or diarrhea but the day I took her, she had alarmingly bloodshot eyes. The veterinarian diagnosed roundworms, gave me a dewormer and a sulfa-based antibiotic and sent us home insisting that the eyes were from stress. We returned the next day because she was now vomiting, The Veterinarian ran a CBC, didn’t really see much out of the ordinary but knew whe was dehydrated so we agreed to some IV fluids and some oral doxycycline. When they went to start the IV, the veterinarian’s technician noticed the hemorrhage in her right eye. Immediately they assumed D-Con type rodenticide and she was given a Vitamin K injection and sent home with oral Vitamin K also. The next day was Saturday and I called the office in the AM with the reply that “the Vitamin K needed time to turn this around”. I watched her decline until Monday AM, called the veterinarian, same answer, had a meltdown and they agreed to see her. They ran a CBC/Diff and Chemistry profile and were horrified at the results. She was in renal failure and the veterinarian could not tell me why. She consulted the Emergency Veterinary Center and they could not connect the hyphema in her eyes to her symptoms and blood work. She gave her an injection for nausea, pain and antibitotic, started her on IV’s and we took her home to pray for a miracle which never came. Cheyenne died in our arms around midnight. PLEASE, get this information to your readers.
Glad to help, Tracy. Enjoy your free subscription and visit often.
Thank you for your quick response. I will look at the beads when I get home – after thinking about it, they may be something like the silica gel beads; they are very hard and bounce (one came down the stairs and bounced across the kitchen, and the pile I found of them was in the middle of a bedroom, not in a closet like the others). I was planning on looking very hard under the edge of the baseboards and around the edges of the rooms to make sure I couldn’t find any more of the pellets.
Yes, Tracy, you are right to be concerned. Spending a little more time looking around another time or two could be the difference between life and death for your kitty. You have a significant advantage over most rodenticide-poisoning cases, though, because you know in advance that there is the potential for problems. When treatment is begun quickly and early after clinical signs appear, the prognosis is usually excellent. Of course prevention is always best, which is why I’m recommending another look-see or two. I am concerned about the pink beads, as rodenticides come in other colors in addition to the “classic green.” I would take the bead (in a plastic bag, after washing your hands thoroughly) to a local pest control service and ask them whether they can identify it. While you’re there, you might want to sign up for a rodent-control contract, as the previous owners clearly had a rodent problem. Don’t forget that “secondary” rodenticide poisoning is a real threat: if your kitty eats a rat or mouse that has eaten poison she, too, can be poisoned. By having professionals control your potential rodent problem, you know that their poison will be properly protected and that the rodent population won’t be allowed to multiply. Click here to see an example of a professional enclosure your pest control agent might use.
I just purchased a home and there was poison in the house in a few places. One kind is green pellets and I also found some pink ‘beads’ that I am not sure if they are poison or not. I have vacuumed up everything I could see and we are getting the carpets professionally cleaned. If I possibly missed a pellet or two (they were everywhere), and my cat happened to eat it – would one pellet be enough to harm her? She’s a fairly large cat (13 or so pounds), but I’m not sure if that would change how it would affect her. Thanks for any information.
Tracy, yours is an excellent question, but one to which I’m reasonably sure there is no answer. After all, why would a rodenticide manufacturer do the research to find out whether his product is still effective ten years later? There’s no financial incentive for him, and whether it’s 10 minutes or 10 centuries, their answer to the question, “Should I treat?” is still going to be the same. There is simply too much risk in not treating and almost no risk in treating. Plus the cost of treatment is pretty low. If you’re curious enough you might call Tomcat or D-con and ask them your original question, but it still won’t affect your veterinarian’s decision about treatment. Thanks for stimulating our brains! Dr. Randolph.
My 13 year old dog ate some 10 year old Tomcat rat poison green pellets this morning. Long story short, we took her to the veterinarian and she is getting Vitamin K1 shots and receiving fluids; also they induced vomiting and found nothing. But my question is, how long is the poison potent for, it has been 10 yrs in a crawl space of the house? If you could let me know your answer or best guess I would appreciate it. Thank You, Tracy K.
Thank you, Dr. Zepecki, for your insights.
I don’t want any client to be “afraid”, just cautious and aware. In rural areas, where this type of accidental ingestion of rodenticide poison is available, death is uncommon except in cases of non-compliance. The comment about being ripped off by a vet or institution may be legitimately felt , but not a “price gouging” matter as nobody really knows about the long term effects of rodenticides. Just look at the hemorrhage spots on your Aunt Hattie’s forearms, who is taking coumadin. Pretty much of an imperfect science. A simple drop of blood on a slide that clots will be enough to tell you how your doggy is doing. Cats don’t seem to like rodenticides. However, if they eat enough mice or rats who died from poisoning, they may also “mysteriously” die.
Good questions, CB. No, Vitamin K1 given orally can cause no harm. Injectable Vitamin K1 must be administered by a veterinarian, as complications can occur if it is used incorrectly. The prothrombin time (PT) test may be performed at four or six weeks into therapy. You are very welcome. I am happy to hear your dog is getting proper therapy.
Hello our dog is currently on Vitamin K1 . We think he may have eaten mouse poison. Would have been one piece or so but we don’t want to take any chances. How many days after the 30 days of Vitamin K1 should it be before PT clotting test is done? I have one more question. At first our veterinarian would not give me more than 14 days for my pet of the k1. I went back as you suggested and spoke with the veterinarian. She took the situation more seriously and provided 6 weeks of K1. Should I get PT test after 30 days or 6 weeks? Can the K1 harm the dog in any way? Should we keep dog on K1 for 30 days then do PT test or 6 weeks then do PT test? Our dog is the terrier who may have ate a mouse poison pellet. We are unsure but wanted to be safe just in case. We appreciate your web site and your help .It is so helpful to all animal lovers .Thank You, Thank You for your help. It is appreciated.
I repeat: “Be afraid. Be very afraid.”