Chocolate Toxicity

During the Easter period we see a large increase in chocolate ingestion/toxicity cases in pets.  Especially curious young dogs who enjoy taking part in the Chocolate Easter egg hunt!  Who dosen’t!!!!

All chocolate varieties – including white chocolate, contain a substance called Theobromine.  If ingested in sufficient quantities it can be toxic to animals as their bodies cannot break this substance down into something safe.  The darker the chocolate, the more Theobromine it contains. For example, just a few small dark chocolate Easter eggs can make a small dog extremely ill and possibly even be fatal.

Signs to watch for include vomiting, diarrhoea, fast breathing/panting, hyperactivity, anxiety, drinking lots of water, wobbly legs, muscle tremors, abnormally high or low heart rate, irregular heartbeat and if left untreated seizures, and eventually coma/death.  Clinical signs usually occur within 1- 4 hours of chocolate ingestion.

Pets with a history of chocolate ingestion or suspicion should be taken to a Veterinary Hospital immediately.  Animals seen and treated within the hour have the best outcome and can usually go home on the day of the visit. The longer it is left untreated the more extensive the treatment and often the less favorable an outcome it becomes.

Animal Accident & Emergency is open 24hr a day.  Our vets are always available and are trained specifically for emergencies.  We are a dedicated emergency centre and are always available to help your pet.

Two great locations:  Essendon 9379 0700  &  Point Cook  8368 7400

Tick Paralysis

Taking your dog with you on an outdoor holiday is an enjoyable experience.  However you need to be aware of the paralysis tick which may be lurking in or out of the bush. The paralysis tick is found in Victoria anywhere east of Bairnsdale, Gippsland all the way up the east coast in New South Wales and Queensland.  The incidence of tick paralysis can be greater in warmer months but it is a year-round problem.

The tick can attach to both dogs and cats and affect them rapidly. The toxin released from the bite of a paralysis tick can cause ascending paralysis within hours, starting from the hind legs. This can be observed as stumbling and weakness.  They can also develop dilated pupils, swallowing difficulties, regurgitation, vomiting, high blood pressure and a very fast heart rate.  If left untreated even for just a day or two, the toxin can cause heart failure and paralyze the respiratory muscles leading to respiratory failure and death.

Any cat or dog travelling to an affected area should be on tick prevention and be checked thoroughly once daily for any attached ticks. Unless a tick is removed properly, the embedded mouthparts can still produce toxins. It is not possible to distinguish between the paralysis tick and other less harmful ticks with the naked eye, so prevention is of the utmost importance. Be aware that ticks can be transported from an affected area to home on camping equipment or clothing.

Antidotes are available but due to the rapidly progressive nature of the toxin a visit to your veterinarian as soon as you have any suspicions is essential for survival.  Not all veterinary clinics stock “Tick Antiserum”, but be assured that our emergency centre always keeps this life saving product in stock.

If you have any queries on tick prevention or wish for more information, feel free to contact your local vet or the AAE for further assistance.

Essendon  9379 0700

Point Cook 8368 7400

Correspondence received from Hume City Council Rabbit Control Program 2012, please read.

Scanned at 29-02-2012 11-15 AM

Brimbank City Council have advised that they are about to commence a rabbit control program on council land.  As part of the control program, a poison will be laid on oats around Council Land and reserves.

The poison causes internal bleeding and death to animals that eat the baited oats.

The dates of the control program are from February 27^th until 30^th of March 2012.

Pets that eat the baited oats are at risk of toxicity and potential death.  It is advised that you do not let your pets off leash during this control program.

The poison being used is called Pindone.  Pindone affects the bodies natural ability to form a blood clots.  Without treatment, it is possible for pets to develop internal bleeding and death. The poison is in the same family as rat poisons and treatment and diagnosis is the same.

Rat baits cause death by interfering with blood clotting, causing a coagulopathy.. Rat baits are very effective in killing rodents and other animals, and in domestic pets they may also cause life-threatening internal or external bleeding.  Generally signs are seen 1-3 days after eating rat-bait. Signs may include but are not limited to:

• lethargy, malaise, weakness
• inappetance,
• collapse, pale gums,
• coughing blood, trouble breathing, rapid breathing
• blood in urine or faeces, black faeces
• vomiting, vomiting of blood
• swelling or ‘blood spots’ (petecchia) under the skin,
• sudden death.

Diagnosis

If your pet has eaten rat bait then we can test for a coagulopathy. This involves running 1 or 2 simple blood tests, which test the ability of the blood to clot (clotting test).  We can run these tests within our emergency centre and the results will be available within minutes.  We will also check your pet’s haematocrit to determine if anaemia is present.

Treatment:

OUTPATIENT TREATMENT

In cases where we know that your pet has eaten rat bait and you present to us  within a short time period,  we may try to induce vomiting, perform a gastric lavage/ enema, or just start your pet on an antidote.  This is a special form of Vitamin K.  You will need to keep giving this Vitamin K for up to 4-6 weeks. You will need to monitor your pet very closely for any of the signs or symptoms, and avoid vigorous exercise (short leash walks are OK). If your pet has been given a course of vitamin K, 2 days after the last dose of vitamin K, you will need a blood test at your local vet, to ensure blood clotting is normal. Please book with your local vet for this- it is ESSENTIAL this test is done.

INPATIENT TREATMENT

In cases where bleeding is evident or there is a potential to bleed internally, we recommend hospitalisation for treatment with plasma transfusions and sometimes blood transfusions.  The plasma will stop the bleeding in the short term while blood (if required) will replace any blood cells that have been lost.

Vitamin K will be started immediately but will take up to 48 hours before it works to stop bleeding.

Despite all of these treatments, pets can still die especially if they have lost a massive amount of blood or if they have compromise to any of the vital organs.  Our aim is to prevent this from happening and will provide your pet with 24 hour care and monitoring during therapy.

If you believe your pet has eaten rat bait or oats from parkland in Brimbank then please contact our emergency centre immediately

I found a fantastic article on a website for Veterinarians – “DVM360” The articles discussed the 7 most likely gifts that may cause our pets problems.  Although the site is American based, all the mentioned gifts are found in Australia. 

If you do think that your pet has ingested any of these products then the sooner you contact a vet the better. 

I hope you have a great Valentine’s Day and your pets remain safe.

1. 1.   Roses – seems strange – Roses are not directly toxic but are rated as dangerous due to their thorns.  Some pets do manage to ingest them and traumatise themselves with the thorns.
2. 2.   Lilies – Lilies are a major concern.  Cats seem to be overly attracted to them.  They contain chemical which are deadly to cats.  Just even biting the stem of these flower can be enough to cause renal failure.  We would never recommend giving Lilies as a present to a cat owner. 
3. 3.   Chocolate – everyone’s favourite – but dogs love this as well.  It can act like a stimulant to them.  If they do ingest too much then it can be fatal.  Different types of chocolate are more dangerous.  If your pet eats your chocolate stash, then you do need to contact us
4. 4.   Chocolate covered Espresso Beans – Similar to chocolate but due to the caffeine, much more dangerous.
5. 5.   Chocolate covered Macadamia Nuts – The nuts are so tempting and are just the right size for some pets to swallow entire.  This means that they can result in a bowel obstruction.
6. 6.   Xylitol – this is an artificial sweetener.  While not overly common in Australia it is present.  Often it is found in chewing gum and breath mints.  Other common finds include bakery products such as specialised icing or as a sweetener in bakery good
7. 7.   Chocolate covered Raisins – Raisins are very toxic to pets.  They can cause kidney failure if consumed in a large enough quantity. 

The weather has warmed up this month.  With extremes in weather, we do see a variety of sick and injured pets.  Warm weather makes it very difficult for a lot of pets with chronic health problems. The holiday season is now coming to an end but it has provided us with many interesting sick pets to treat.

Injuries from Fireworks:    Each year we have a number of pets that injure themselves from the stress associated with fireworks.  Most injuries result from escaping home and then being injured by some type of trauma.   Some pets become so scared by the fireworks or even thunderstorms that they will develop heat stress or break glass windows trying to escape.

Heat Stress:  Heat stress is becoming a major problem.  We have treated several pets this month.  The type of dogs at greatest risk are pets with underlying medical problems or those known as Brachycephalic.  These dogs typically have a very short nose.  Typical breeds include Staffordshire Terriers and Pugs.  Our advice – please do not exercise these pets on warm days.  Always give plenty of fresh water and If they look stressed, cool them down with tap water and contact your vet.  This week is likely to be a major issue – constant temperatures above 34 degrees are hard for anyone to deal with.

Holiday Pets:  Tick paralysis is caused by a small creature called a tick.  The ticks attach themselves when a pet comes in contact with them.  Over a couple of days they engorge themselves on the pets blood but inject a toxin that can cause a life threatening paralysis.  The ticks are common on the Eastern seaboard as well as certain areas in Victoria.  Pets travelling interstate are at the biggest risk.  This is a lethal disease but can be treated with an antivenom.  Typical signs:  excessive panting, trouble walking (especially hind legs) retching or a non-productive vomit.  Always talk to your vet before heading away on holidays as there are some products that can help with prevention.

Snakes:  Tiger snakes are very active in Melbourne at the moment.  We treat several pets during the summer period.  The sooner a pet receives antivenom the better.  Snakes tend to hunt for small prey such as frogs and mice.  Dogs and cats seem to find them a fun play toy.  Tiger snakes are one of the most dangerous snakes and will kill a pet within minutes.  They are very common on the edges of swamp lands and creeks – they love the Yarra River!!!  We have also treated a Red-Belly Black Snake bite recently.  While these snake rarely cause problems, this bite was extensive and required multiple vials of anti-venom.  Walking around a lake or bush land – please keep your pet on lead.  If you live in the Werribee / Point Cook area – this is Tiger Snake heaven – please be extra vigilant.

Bloat or GDV:  They say things come in 3’s ….. on a recent night, we had three of emergencies.  Bloat or GDV (Gastric Dilatation & Volvulus)  occurs in large dogs.  This is a condition where the stomach expands uncontrollably – usually with air and causes a life threatening condition.  The condition can kill some dogs within a short period of time.  They generally require major surgery and lots of intensive care.  Most of these pets will need heart rate (ECG) monitoring as well as blood transfusions.  The good news for these three pets is that all of them made a good recovery.  So unusual to have all three at once!!!

Addison’s Disease: This is another rare disease that we have seen recently.  This condition is a major emergency.  The adrenal gland in these pets stops working and as a result stress hormone productions stops.  The adrenal gland also helps maintain body salt levels.  This is part of the mechanism that keeps your urine at the right concentration so that you do not dehydrate.  Remove both these hormones and you become very sick.  We have seem over 5 cases this month.  In each case we need to provide them with special care to correct salt levels and provide them with medication the replaces their adrenal gland.

Australia Day: Have a great Australia Day – always the best day of the year to get together with friends and celebrate our country.  Our emergency teams at Point Cook and Essendon will be hard at work if you need us.  The common consults that we will see are a mix of everything.  But the Australia Day BBQ always claims makes a few pets unwell.  Be careful what to feed your pets – Onions are a no; cooked bones are a no; meat skewers are a no; the drip tray is also tempting!  Watch out for the high temperatures and any fireworks and enjoy the day.

Take Care

AAE

Animal Accident and Emergency is a premier Melbourne Animal Hospital.  We are a 24 hr Vet clinic.  We have specialised equipment and our staff are trained specifically in emergency and critical care.  We are one of few vet clinics which is able to provide intensive care.  Our centres are located in Essendon and Point Cook – we are available without the need for referral. Vet Emergency Essendon – Phone 9379 0700;  Vet Emergency Point Cook – Phone 8368 7400.

Summer Blog MH-1 (2)

Snakes Bite Article

In the last 24 hrs we have treated several pets due to attackes by dogs.  All of these attacks have occurred in the Attwood / Roxburgh Park area.

Please make sure that your pets are in a safe location when left alone.

Always walk your pet on lead and move a good distance away from other dogs when they are passing by.

If your pet is attacked – please see a vet as soon as possible.

Dog attacks are life threatening.  Usually the surface injuries are mild compared with the damage under the skin.  They can often require extensive surgery and intensive care. 

When moving your pet after an injury – always protect yourself.  We recommend wrapping them in a blanket.  They will be very painful and will often bite owners.  Wrapping them in a blanket will make them feel more secure and less likely to injure you when you transport them.

Phone us and let us know  that you are on your way.  That way we can be ready for you!

In the Whyndham and Point Cook Weekly this week, there is an article by one of our Vets.  Dr Matt Pascal discusses snakes in the Western Melbourne area.  Snake bites are life threatening and do kill numerous pets each year.  Animal Accident & Emergency specifically carry antivenom for snakes.  We also stock special diagnostic tests that can identify the exact snake from urine. 

We hope that you never need us but we are available 24/7

PICTURE: CATHY JACKSON