Holistic for Dogs!

Archive for the ‘Dog Poisons’ Category

I eat raw salmon all the time and it has never occurred to me that it could cause serious disease in my dogs.  The cause of salmon poisoning is not limited to salmon, it also can come from any fish that migrates from salt to fresh water to spawn.  It is most commonly caused by fish from the west coast where the primary hosts (snails) are found.  Other examples of fish able to carry richettsia are trout and steelheads.  Be sure to cook these fish well before feeding or avoid them if cooking is undesirable.  I’m sure not every single salmon out there is necessarily a host but you never know which one is.

In a nut shell, salmon can carry a worm that can be a host to a organism known as richettsia.  When the dog eats the salmon flesh, small cysts in it can hatch out in the dog’s stomach.  The flukes then infest the dog and also release the richettsia.  Salmon poisoning disease may be a bit of a misnomer as it isn’t a poisoning so much as an illness.

Richettsia infestation can cause swollen lymph nodes, high fever, dehydration, diarrhea, vomiting, and lethargy.  Discharge may be seen in the eyes and nose.   Dogs usually fall ill quickly within about a week of eating infested fish.  If a dog becomes severely ill and raw fish was fed to the dog recently it is important to mention that to the vet treating the dog.

If you have fed your dog raw salmon, don’t panic.  When caught and treated properly, most dogs survive their encounter with richettsia.  Extra vigilance needs to be taken to watch the dog’s condition as the mortality rate of untreated dogs can be as high as 9 out of 10 dogs.   Contact the vet if the dog has eaten raw salmon and ask for directions.  If no symptoms have presented and are instructed to carefully observe here are some basic things to watch out for.

Watch out for these symptoms up to a month after fish consumption.

If the dog has a change in its behavior, acting more morose than usual take the time to feel their lymph nodes and take its temperature.  Two of the easiest places to feel for swollen lymph nodes is in the “knees” of the back legs (the largest bend in the back legs) and under the chin.  The lymph nodes under the chin are analogous to our own.  If a firm sac is felt in these areas that indicates a swollen node.  The temperature of the dog may become elevated to as high as 107 degrees a few days after consumption before falling back to a normal temperature.  If the dog begins to vomit and pass bloody stools bring the dog to the vet and inform the vet of the situation.  Symptoms may be appear as severe as some of the most dangerous infections like distemper and parvo.

Once at the vet, a stool sample may be taken or a biopsy of the lymph node to confirm the infestation.  The vet may administer liquids to maintain proper hydration as well as use a combination of a deworming drug and antibiotic to clear the infection.  After proper treatment recovery should be fairly quick.

I really have never heard of this disease before a few weeks ago and I can imagine thinking salmon is a great raw food as we often eat it in sushi.  It is important though to feed only cooked fish that may harbor this disease or exclude them from a raw diet.  We need to be vigilant of our dogs normal behavior.  This disease definitely requires vet treatment and should not be taken care of at home.  And don’t worry!  Humans are immune to this disease and our sushi is still safe for humans .

Technorati Tags: raw food diet, richettsia, salmon disease, salmon poisoning

Onions will kill your dog. Or more specifically, onions will kill the hemoglobin in your dog’s red blood cells. The component that is actually responsible for this massacre is the thiolsulfate ion in onions and garlic.

Thiolsulfate causes heinz bodies to develop on hemoglobin. A heinz body is basically a “bubble” on the hemoglobin. These hemoglobin become denatured and kind of fall apart causing these cells to die prematurely after which they are removed from the body. The death of red blood cells eventually leads to hemolytic anemia. Blood cell death. This anemia is caused by simply not having the proper volume of red blood cells in the body as opposed to something like sickle cell which is a problem with cell shape.

In humans, hemolytic anemia can be caused by malaria. And theoretically, it could be caused by eating too much onions too! Although, that’s pretty unlikely and you would smell A LOT before then.

Onions contain more thiolsulfate than garlic and are proportionally more dangerous to animals. Cats are highly susceptible to hemolytic anemia compared to dogs and any small amount of onions or garlic may cause serious symptoms.

If a dog eats a significant portion of onion, induce vomiting and take the dog to the vet. One small piece of onion from a pizza will probably be okay but if doggy eats a hunk of onion or a whole one this is definitely an emergency. The vet may have to pump the dog’s stomach to get rid of the remaining thiolsulfate. And if the dog is anemic, it could require a blood transfusion.

Onion and Garlic toxicity can also be caused over time. If a dog or cat eats a small amount of onion every day, this can add up to a high level of toxicity and become symptomatic. Avoid regularly feeding dogs any type of onion product, whether cooked, raw, or in a powdered form.

Symptoms

Symptoms of hemolytic anemia are lethargy, pale or gray gums, reddish urine from excreted blood cells, rapid heart beat, and rapid breathing. The gums of healthy dogs should be a hearty bubble gum pink. This would be a tell-tale sign that the dog is having circulatory problems. An episode of onion toxicity may take several days to cycle. Do not wait this long to seek out medical help.

Treatment

It slightly saddens me that we would need to treat this type of poisoning in our beloved pets. The easiest way to “treat” onion toxicity is to prevent it. Do not allow dogs to eat foods containing onions or excessive garlic– ever. I cannot stress the importance of being careful with storage of onions and also with the method of disposal. Don’t just throw it in the trash where the dog can get it! This is a costly and dangerous type of disease for dogs and it isn’t worth it to allow toxicity to occur and then treat it when it can be completely prevented.

However, if by some accident doggy does eat too much thiolsulfate, a vet visit will be necessary. At the first signs of pale gums, lethargy and reddish urine, contact the vet. The dog may require various medications to help counter act toxicity as well as a stomach pump and administration of activated charcoal. If the dog does not have enough blood to keep functioning, it will need a blood transfusion. After the acute attack occurs, the dog will need to regenerate the lost blood cells and avoid any additional onions/garlic.

Some people use garlic as a health supplement in dogs and cats.  Small amounts of garlic can be beneficial but still use plenty of caution in choosing quantity and frequency.  But never feed your pet onions!

Technorati Tags: Dog Poisons, garlic toxicity, heinz body anemia, hemolytic anemia, onion toxicity, thiosulfate poisoning

Candy's dog Eppie

With Halloween coming up chances are that there will shortly be a lot more chocolate lurking not so sneakily in jars and on dining tables everywhere.  If your dog, as Eppie has recently, managed through some acrobatic, physics defying feat to empty a bowl of sweets, a hasty google search will probably be conducted shortly.  Dogs and chocolate, not a good combination.

Chocolate is highly toxic to dogs.  The cocoa bean contains theobromine and caffeine both of which can cause sudden doggy death.  Caffeine and theobromine are from the same class of chemicals and are molecularly nearly identical, producing similar nervous system and cardiac effects in dogs as we observe in a human who consumed way too many red bulls.  Many animals including dogs cannot metabolize theobromine effectively and a build up of theobromine after consuming chocolate can lead to death.

The most important thing one can do to save their dog is to figure out just how much and what kind of chocolate doggie ate.  Fatal levels of theobromine are about 100-200 mg for every pound the dog weighs.

Milk chocolate 64 mg theobromine/ounce

dark chocolate 150 mg theobromine/ounce

Baking Chocolate 440 mg theobromine/ounce

Cocoa powder 808 mg theobromine/ounce

Cocoa garden mulch Enough (I would suggest not using it in the garden at all.  You may never notice a few mulch chips missing.)

Cocoa powder poses a far greater threat to a pet compared to milk chocolate.  Doing the math can help to relieve a worried owner (if doggy only ate a few hershey’s kisses).  If you believe that your dog has eaten anywhere close to the fatal dose and is showing symptoms please seek out medical help!

Symptoms

The first sign of chocolate toxicity is a cracked out dog, acting just like someone who has consumed way too much caffeine.  The dog will probably show symptoms of hyperactivity, excessive thirst and urination, twitching muscles, raised blood pressure, or excessive panting.  Hyperactivity will probably be the most obvious and observable effect. Symptoms can progress to a seizure, coma, hyperthermia, or heart attack.

If you know the chocolate was consumed within the last few hours inducing vomiting may lower the amount of theobromine that can be absorbed by the dog.  Further vet care will be required immediately if the dog has consumed a large dose.  There is no specific antidote for chocolate poisoning but the time it takes for half of the theobromine to leave the dog’s system is about 20 hours.  After 20 hours, the immediate threat has probably passed and we can all breathe a little easier.