POSSIBLE CAUSES OF DEATH OR POISONING TO YOUR DOG

Any proud owner of a Westie will be worried to see their dog portraying some abnormal behavior. Some of these could be due to a disease. However, most can be possible symptoms of dog poisoning that can even kill your canine buddy. Most of the household items or even human food can affect your dog.

Therefore it’s worth knowing how to identify the different signs or behaviors of your buddy to help them stay healthier and safer. Below, I’ve created a list of possible symptoms of dog poisoning. Not all of them but it’s a comprehensive list thus you can print it and keep it safe with you.

How “Swiffer Wetjet” Can Affect Your Dog

Recently, we encountered a case where a pet owner lost their five-year-old German shepherd to liver failure. A couple of weeks before, the dog was in sound health. Since the owner never knew the cause of death, an autopsy was performed to find out. It was found that the dog’s liver was somewhat out of the ordinarily healthy state. It appeared as if the dog had taken poison.

The pet was a house dog, never went outside the homestead. Therefore, it was known for sure that the cause of poison was in the house. The house was searched to find the possible poison. The fine print on a Swifter Wetjet packaging was checked and found to contain the statement that it may be poisonous to kids and animals. The manufacturer of the Swifter Wetjet was contacted and it was found out that there were molecules which were not far from being automobile antifreeze (highly poisonous to dogs). The floor had been cleaned using the Swifter Wetjet, and when the dog stepped on it then licked his feet, he had already taken enough of the solution which destroyed his liver in a few days.

Two cats belonging to the dog owner also died of liver failure just after the dog’s death. The Wetjet solution had been applied when cleaning both households. Swifter Wetjet is also very dangerous to kids playing on the floor cleaned with it. Kindly share this important information with other dog owner friends of yours.

The Dangers of Xylitol and Sorbitol

These are substitutes for artificial sugar. Dangers associated with these substances about dog poisoning have been very common for long. And the dangers came to the notice of many households when a severe case was reported in May 2007 by Snopes. Unfortunately, most of us never knew about it. But luckily, through this website, this important information shall be passed to all.

Even though Sorbitol hasn’t been mentioned in the report by Snopes, I learned that the compound is very dangerous. It belongs to the same group as Xylitol and can result in death. Xylitol refers to a common sugar alcohol used in chewing gums, candies, certain pharmaceutical and other products of the likes of throat lozenges and chewable vitamins. It’s also a common compound in baking products.

Even though it is stated that it’s safe to humans, it is very deadly to dogs.  When ingested by a dog, it can result in a huge insulin surge. Within 15 minutes of ingestion, the dog may record a substantial drop in blood sugar level.  As little as 3 grams of this compound can kill a dog weighing 65 pounds.

The xylitol amount contained in a single sugar-free gum can vary with manufacturer. But in general, about 8 to 10 of such gums can kill a dog weighing 65 lbs. On ingestion, the dog can rapidly become very weak, lose coordination, collapse and seizure. Just after 30 minutes, the symptoms start to be evident. Such a dog might have been affected severely and should be given immediate vet attention.

If not attended to, the dog can suffer from permanent brain trauma and finally die a terrible death. Even if your dog survives, its liver shall have been damaged severely just within 24 hours.  An October 2006 publication in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, out of 8 dogs that had ingested this compound, 5 succumbed to death as a result of liver failure. The remaining three followed after completion of the study.

Even though more research needs to be carried out to prove that xylitol causes liver failure in canines, every indication available now points to that direction. When it comes to treatment costs for a severely affected dog, it can resort to thousands of dollars.  Therefore, be very cautious. Even with the slightest suspicion that your dog has ingested xylitol, contact your vet doctor IMMEDIATELY!

If residing about half a mile from the vet, you should induce vomiting to your dog before taking him/her to the vet.  You can achieve this by giving a grown up dog 3 to 4 tablespoons of plain but old Hydrogen peroxide. As for puppies or small sized dogs, give them 1 to 2 tablespoons.

A tablespoon here means the “measuring tablespoon” such as one used in baking. It’s important to keep with you’re a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide with you for this purpose. It’s the same thing that a vet would possibly use to induce vomiting. This can save your dog’s life as many have used it successfully.

However, peroxide should be used on wounds as it is with humans. It tends to destroy living tissue and will affect your dog is applied on wounds. To avoid poisoning your dog with xylitol, you should NOT feed him/her with anything that is NOT meant for dogs or cats. Human foods aren’t safe for your dog.

I am yet to find out about Aspartame, another artificial sweetener used in “Diet” soft drinks. Meanwhile, I would be very wary of it to my dogs. It’s better to be safe than be sorry.

How Harmful Is Cocoa Bean Shell Mulch

Always keep this far away from your dog or cat! Studies have revealed that about 50 percent of dogs who ingest Cocoa Mulch may be subjected to physical harm of certain degree depending on a particular dog. But, 98 percent of dogs cannot eat it. The remaining 2 percent can include your dog. You never know!

These shells have a smell resembling cocoa, and this makes it attractive to some dogs who might want to ingest them. They are as well equipped with “Theobromine,” a very lethal ingredient to dogs. Any dog that decides to feed on this can only last for about 15 to 20 hours before dying. Theobromine is a common ingredient in chocolates and baker’s chocolate.

It is a xanthine compound which has similar effects as theophylline and caffeine.  I’ve witnessed a dog that died after 17 hours of ingesting large amounts of the lethal compound. When its stomach as analyzed, it was evident that the dog had ingested Theobromine in large amounts.

This occurrence started off when an owner of two young lab mixes bought Cocoa Mulch from Target for use in her garden. Unfortunately, one of her dogs noticed the sweet smell and liked it. On the day she went to apply the mulch in her garden, the curious dog decided to feast on this attractive stuff.  The owner, later on, noticed her dog had vomited a couple of times, but she simply thought the smell was just strange to her dog and possibly he had had much of it. She never knew that something nasty was cooking behind the scene.

On the following morning when she took her canine buddy for a walk, the dog started to experience seizures and the next minute he was no more. The Cocoa Mulch packaging didn’t have any warning prints that the product was harmful to dogs. But investigating further on the company’s site, there was a statement that the product is very toxic to cats and dogs.

Lawn Fertilizer

Lawn fertilizers are equally highly poisonous to dogs thus you should handle it with lots of caution as it can as well affect your kids too. It should be watered for about 10 to 20 days before pets and kids are allowed to play in the garden where it has been used. Even after watering, it is important that the grass is completely dry.  Chemicals can easily pass through the skin into the body of a kid or dog. Even though the pad on dogs’ feet may seem hard, tiny sweat droplets pass through them, and therefore the traces of the lethal chemical can easily find their way in.

If you have lawn maintenance service that sprays your garden about three times in a year, it would be advisable to have it done once in a year, during spring.

Poisonous Effects Of Vinyl

Most of us are familiar with vinyl but not so many know they could be poisonous too. Most pet toys have been manufactured using this material and keep poisoning our loyal buddies slowly each day. Vinyl has been made using chemicals that can be identified easily by smelling a toy. This chemical makes the toys soft, and the gasses they emit find their way into the body of pets and kids through the nose and mouth. This in turn poison the liver at a slow rate that might be noticed easily.

Take caution, any pet toy with a characteristic smell of vinyl should be kept at bay. The poison ingested has a slow effect but it’s still present, and the effects will come out one day. Remember, there is nothing like non-toxic vinyl.