weird poison?

[chicknmania]

My friend's dog died this morning. Yesterday she brought him to the stable where we ride, and he spent most of his time in a stall, but had some time to roam though he did not go far, he stays close to her. He was an 8 yo German Shepherd. Only thing she noticed was excessive thirst, but he had no othe symptoms. Next morning he was dead.

Another friend there, who owns the stable, lost a cat a few months ago, much the same way...excessive thirst, but also salivation in that case. Dead next day, otherwise had been fine.

We think it was some kind of poison. We havepretty much ruled out rat poison, because it has more symptoms, and (probably) was not antifreeze, but I read that there are many plants that can cause these symptoms and results. Has anyone else had a similar experience or does anyone have an idea what this could be?

 

[thebanthams]

oh so sad, yes some rat poison can happen and so do plants. what about parvo?

 

[chicknmania]

No, there were no symptoms at all, other than the thirst. Our dog contracted Parvo from the shelter where we got her when she was a puppy; she was VERY sick, so I'm guessing others would be the same way. I'm thinking maybe the neighbor, who has a fancy garden, sprayed some sort of insecticiide, or maybe it was rodenticide, although, from what I've read, there are more symptoms with man made poisons. It was probably some kind of plant; many don't cause symptoms but can kill with their poison f ingested. Just dk what...:/

 

[leadwolf1]

Some rat poisons are designed to make the rat head to water. Excessive thirst would be the first symptom. I know the new stuff that I just used killed rapidly. It was the fastest poison I've even seen. The rat was dead pretty close to the bait..within inches of water. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it was this type of poison. Especially since a cat died the same way.

 

[dainerra]

Hypercalcemic agents are poisons that contain vitamin D (cholecalciferol) as their effective agent. Cholecalciferol poisons work by raising the calcium content in blood serum to toxic levels, eventually producing cardiac arrhythmias and death. They are becoming increasingly popular because rodents do not develop resistance to them and, with the rare exception of a puppy or small dog, dogs who eat poisoned rodents will not develop toxicity. In virtually all cases, the dog must eat the poison itself to become ill.
In dogs, signs of hypercalcemia appear 18 to 36 hours after ingesting the poison. They include thirst and frequent urination, vomiting, generalized weakness, muscle twitching, seizures, and, finally, death. Among survivors, the effects of an elevated serum calcium may persist for weeks.
Treatment: If you suspect your dog has ingested one of these poisons within the past four hours, induce vomiting and notify your veterinarian.

 

[chicknmania]

Thanks for the info. Good to know they are working on poisons that will not indirectly affect other animals. We will not use poison here because it is just too risky to too many things that we DONT mean to poison.

 

[Bunnylady]

Using vitamin D as the "toxic" agent is really pretty ingenious. Vitamin D is something that most animals produce naturally when exposed to sunlight, so most animals excrete the excess as a matter of course. Rats usually avoid sunlight, so their bodies tend to conserve vitamin D. Can't get much more "targeted" than that!

 

[zazouse]

Rat poison works by the dose, an average rat has to eat a tablespoon of poison to kill it so a dog would have to eat an entire package to kill it and a cat is not going to eat rat poison.

I don't have a clue as to what these animals have gotten into but i hope they find out soon .

 

[leadwolf1]

According to the warning on the poison I just used, consuming a poisoned rat would kill your dog. No way did the rat that died consume a TBSP of poison...the block was barely nibbled and the rat was very dead.

 

[ThiefPouter06]

Some rat poisons are designed to make the rat head to water. Excessive thirst would be the first symptom. I know the new stuff that I just used killed rapidly. It was the fastest poison I've even seen. The rat was dead pretty close to the bait..within inches of water. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that it was this type of poison. Especially since a cat died the same way.

Sorry but bromadiolone (active ingriendient in most) is not designed to make them head to water. Yes it causes extreme thirst but this is just one of many of the symptoms of exposure. It is a blood thinner. I have been a licensed Pest control technician in 3 states for the past 12 years. They may get thirsty, but "heading to water" is a stretch used by salesman. homeowner says,"arent they going to die in the walls and smell?", salesman," Oh no, they will go outside looking for water. More than likely the lethargic, nauseated, bleeding at the nose, hungry ,thirsty and having diarhea mouse goes back to his nest and curls up to die. But poison is designed to kill based on body weight. The bigger the animal the more poison needed to kill. Large dogs need to consume more poison than most people have out to kill them . I havent known cats to want to eat several blocks of wax blocks filled with bird seed.