the slugs and snails are out eating your plants you want to get rid of them don't
kill your pet in the process slug and snail bait poisoning in dogs and cats
can definitely be deadly hi I'm dr. Alex from ourpetshealth.com, helping you
and your pet to live a healthier happier life so if we're just meeting for the
first time and you're interested in optimizing your dog and your cat's
health then hit the subscribe button down below to make sure you don't miss out on
future videos just like this one there are lots of different slug and snail
bait types on the market some of the most popular contain the chemical
metaldehyde mixed with bran or wheat they are generally in pellet form
although there can be a liquid or a powder and they're bright blue in color
they are pretty effective against slugs and snails but they're also incredibly
effective against dogs and cats one of the reasons for this is that metaldehyde
based slug and snail baits can actually taste pretty good
and so our dogs and our cats may actually seek it out and eat all that
they come across some metaldehyde based slug and snail bait may claim to be
safer for pets or of a low toxicity and this is often because they have added
something to them that makes them taste very bitter or unpleasant don't be
fooled though our pets eat all kinds of terrible tasting things and if these
snail baits contain metaldehyde and our dog or our cat eats them then the effect
will still be the same so just how poisonous is slug bait for dogs and cats
the short answer is very a 20 pounds or 9 kilogram dog would only need to eat
about 18 grams this is about a tablespoon and it's not much a typical
pack of slug and snail bait weighs around 400 grams and that's enough to
kill a pack of dogs weighing a total of 200 kilograms or 440 pounds make no
mistake it doesn't matter how big your pet is it only takes a really tiny
amount of slug or snail bait to kill them so that's how deadly slug and snail
they can be but what symptoms does it actually cause well it causes what some
know is shake-and-bake syndrome this often starts with vomiting diarrhea and
drooling before progressing to tremors then full on
seizures these seizures and convulsions are so severe that the pet quickly
develops extreme hypothermia a raise in their body temperature and this then
causes multi organ failure and death there is no specific antidote to slug
and snail bait poisoning if your pet is poisoned then the treatment given will
be symptomatic your vet will try their very best to keep your pet alive while
the poison works its way out of the body if you know your pet has eaten some bait
then your vet will make them vomit if they are not yet showing symptoms once
nervous signs like tremors or in coordination start though making your
pet vomit is not safe and this is because there's a serious risk that your
pet will actually inhale their own vomit which in itself can be fatal and there's
something called aspiration pneumonia the next step then might be to actually
anesthetize your pet so that their stomach can be flushed out and now all
of the snail bait that is remaining to be removed even if your pet is made to
vomit it is highly likely that they're still actually be quite a lot present in
the stomach and removing as much as possible will then give your pet the
best chance of recovery the stomach can also be filled with something called
activated charcoal and that can just help to absorb any toxin present in the
rest of the intestines once your pet develops nerve or neurological signs
different drugs can be given to try and control them if your pets temperature is
too high other measures will be taken to cool them down as much as possible
muscle relaxants might be needed as well it might even be that your pet needs to
be anesthetized for many hours to control their symptoms
if your pet survives then recovery generally takes two to three days but
this is a big if many dogs will die in the first few hours of showing signs of
poisoning despite the best treatment and the best efforts of any vet
there are plenty alternatives to metaldehyde slug and snail bait so if
you have pets then really there is no excuse not to be using something else
you could try crushed shells or beer traps or diatomaceous earth
shops also sell iron-based slug pellets and these are much safer although they
do take longer to kill slugs and snails a small price to pay though for keeping
your pet alive if you absolutely must use metaldehyde snail or slug bait then
keep it locked away and fence off the area from your pet even then understand
the risk that you might be taking is a significant and serious one so I hope
this helps protect your pet and prevents a potentially serious case of poisoning
to find out all the other common pet poisons you need to know about make sure
you check out my top 20 pet poisons video link below and if you have any
questions then please leave me a comment down below I'd love to hear from you
also remember to subscribe and until next time i'm dr. alex from our pets
health because their family