Recently, I’ve had several friends and neighbors tell me horror stories about their dogs and snail bait. I’ve known two dogs personally who have gotten deathly ill by eating it from either their gardens or their neighbors garden. So, here is some information about it.
Snail bait comes in pellet form (usually) and it looks a bit like dog kibble. The pellets are sometimes combined with molasseses, apples and bran which is to attract the slugs or the snails, but imagine how yummy that smells to our dogs. The toxic ingredient is usually metaldehyde.
The symptoms are as follows: twitching, nervousness, apprehension, and increased excitability. Other symptoms are drooling, muscle tremors, panting, fever, seizures, diarrhea, rapid heart rate, resiratory failure, rigidity and vomiting. You must get attention from a vet immediately. This poison is very fast acting. Get there quick!
A very small amount is fatal…one teaspoon per ten lbs of bodyweight will cause death in half of the cases.
The treatment is inducing vomiting or using a stomach pump. The vet may also use activated charcoal to absorb the poison. They may use an enema if the bait has reached the intestine, as well as flushing with IV fluids. The dog will need to be hospitalized for monitoring. there is no antidote for the poison, it is treated symptomatically.
For more information about this very dangerous, everyday item, go to www.dogchatforum.com.
