Seasonal poisonings in pets

Christmas festivities and winter colds for pet owners bring a seasonal peak of poisonings to be dealt with by vets. Across the Yorkshire Vets surgeries we have seen four cases this week alone. The commonest type of intoxication seen in cats is through mis-dosing with doggy flea treatments but for dogs it’s definitely ‘the dog has eaten my tablets’. And usually this means painkillers or headache remedies such as aspirin, ibuprofen or paracetamol.

Whereas cats are usually too sensible to eat tablets (even if they’re supposed to be taking them) dogs will delight in snaffling a box of anything lying about within reach. Aspirin, ibuprofen and their various brands are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) with potentially serious adverse effects when taken in overdose. Even normal doses of such medications can upset the stomach of some dogs and at doses above 50 milligrams Ibuprofen per kilogramme bodyweight (mg/Kg) the resulting rise in stomach acidity can cause vomiting, heart-burn and oesophagitis, gastro-intestinal bleeding and ulcers. With doses above 150 mg/Kg the second potential problem is kidney failure.

Often, the most important factor is the size of the dog involved. A large Labrador can get away with munching ten times as many Nurofen tablets as a Jack Russell puppy. Over the years, the dogs which we have seen that went on to have life-threatening complications have usually been small. With Nurofen tablets usually containing 200mg Ibuprofen a big dog needs to eat several before he or she runs into problems whereas a pup might be quite poorly after just one.

Of course, half the time no-one is sure exactly how many tablets were in the chewed-up pack to start with which can make life complicated. If seen within 2-3 hours then usually it is safest to make the dog vomit – these days we have a convenient injection for doing this. The next step is to start treatment to prevent the increase in stomach acid which does the damage. Again, there are very effective drugs now available for this purpose. However, to avoid kidney failure, the only effective measure is an intravenous drip to ensure a good throughput of fluids. At this early stage, the patients are usually very bright, happy and wondering why they need to be sat in a hospital with a drip in their leg – so it can be quite a challenge to keep the drip attached to the dog for the day or two which is usually required to see them through the worst.

Paracetamol is a slightly different matter. In this case, liver damage is the big issue and, as with people who have taken deliberate overdoses, it may not become apparent until a couple of days after the tablets were eaten. Outwardly, dogs which have eaten paracetamol become depressed and go off their food. Their tongue and gums sometimes become a dramatic chocolate brown colour. Later this can fade and change to the yellow of jaundice. Severely poisoned individuals continue to decline with vomiting and become progressively more comatose.

Again, where a dog is known to have eaten paracetamol, the best chance is to cause vomiting as soon as possible. A partial antidote exists but it has to be given via an intravenous drip over the course of a couple of days – which involves a stay in the hospital.

Also relevant at this time of year: did you know that raisins are potentially dangerous to dogs?. A Christmas cake can contain enough to cause life-threatening kidney failure. Sadly, we have seen two such cases in the last few years.

Chocolate is occasionally responsible for serious heart rhythm disturbances in dogs although, in practice, this doesn’t often happen. Milk chocolate doesn’t contain all that much cacao, the damaging ingredient. A large quantity of dark chocolate would be much more of a concern.

Finally, it’s worth bearing in mind that dogs which unwisely gorge themselves on fatty foods such as the leftovers of the roast or half a trifle are at risk of pancreatitis – which is always painful and unpleasant and occasionally downright dangerous. A classic Boxing day case for a lot of vets.

Overall a merrier Christmas is often to be had by sticking to dog food!

chocolate-coloured gums after paracetamol poisoning

jaundiced gums after paracetamol poisoning