A cautionary tale!

Gatehouse Farm · Sep 19, 2017

First thing this morning went to get dog out of his run to come round the cows with me, said dog is lying flat out in his run with blood everywhere and bleeding profusely from his nose. Phoned vet and hot footed it over there with the thought in my mind of "he's not long for this world". Vet reckons he's got hold of some rat bait. Now I'm always 200% careful with bait, only ever put it out in bait boxes and tucked away where nothing else should be able to get hold of it.

Every morning that dog comes with me and every morning when I feed the fatteners in the barns he lays just inside the barn door with his head on the ledge and watches my every move but never moves until I tell him. Yesterday morning when I finished I went to get him and instead of being in the doorway he was laying further in the barn, didn't think anything of it. Am now wondering if rats had pulled a block or part of a block out of the bait station and he'd found it and thought oh that looks tasty.

Have brought him home from the vets this evening, he's a lot better but not out of the woods by a long way. Christ I feel guilty, it's all my bloody fault. Be extra careful guys with bait, trust me it's not nice seeing you four legged companions like that.

Hilly · Sep 19, 2017

Gatehouse Farm said:
First thing this morning went to get dog out of his run to come round the cows with me, said dog is lying flat out in his run with blood everywhere and bleeding profusely from his nose. Phoned vet and hot footed it over there with the thought in my mind of "he's not long for this world". Vet reckons he's got hold of some rat bait. Now I'm always 200% careful with bait, only ever put it out in bait boxes and tucked away where nothing else should be able to get hold of it.

Every morning that dog comes with me and every morning when I feed the fatteners in the barns he lays just inside the barn door with his head on the ledge and watches my every move but never moves until I tell him. Yesterday morning when I finished I went to get him and instead of being in the doorway he was laying further in the barn, didn't think anything of it. Am now wondering if rats had pulled a block or part of a block out of the bait station and he'd found it and thought oh that looks tasty.

Have brought him home from the vets this evening, he's a lot better but not out of the woods by a long way. Christ I feel guilty, it's all my bloody fault. Be extra careful guys with bait, trust me it's not nice seeing you four legged companions like that.

Oh heck, i hope your dog recovers. Did they give the dog a blood transfusion ?

Gatehouse Farm · Sep 19, 2017

Hilly said:
Oh heck, i hope your dog recovers. Did they give the dog a blood transfusion ?

Thanks, no they think they've caught it early enough to just treat it with vitamin K. Think he's had a fair few injections today and he's on vitamin and iron tablets for next month. They said tonight will be the turning point either way!

Hilly · Sep 19, 2017

Gatehouse Farm said:
Thanks, no they think they've caught it early enough to just treat it with vitamin K. Think he's had a fair few injections today and he's on vitamin and iron tablets for next month. They said tonight will be the turning point either way!

Oh well, hope he recovers, dogs are like family.

le bon paysan · Sep 19, 2017

Good luck.

spin cycle · Sep 19, 2017

Gatehouse Farm said:
Thanks, no they think they've caught it early enough to just treat it with vitamin K. Think he's had a fair few injections today and he's on vitamin and iron tablets for next month. They said tonight will be the turning point either way!

hope it works out for you....switching to loose bait might stop a repeat?

msheep66 · Sep 19, 2017

Hope he pulls through keep us posted.

David. · Sep 19, 2017

Keep some wash soda crystals in the cupboard and make sure you get vet to show you how to use them, so that in emergency you can administer first aid when rat poison suspected. Getting them to barf whilst block is still in stomach is pretty vital.
Got a dog who used to actively look them out of the straw stack to chew.
Hope your mate pulls through, horrible experience.

76masseyman · Sep 19, 2017

Gatehouse Farm said:
First thing this morning went to get dog out of his run to come round the cows with me, said dog is lying flat out in his run with blood everywhere and bleeding profusely from his nose. Phoned vet and hot footed it over there with the thought in my mind of "he's not long for this world". Vet reckons he's got hold of some rat bait. Now I'm always 200% careful with bait, only ever put it out in bait boxes and tucked away where nothing else should be able to get hold of it.

Every morning that dog comes with me and every morning when I feed the fatteners in the barns he lays just inside the barn door with his head on the ledge and watches my every move but never moves until I tell him. Yesterday morning when I finished I went to get him and instead of being in the doorway he was laying further in the barn, didn't think anything of it. Am now wondering if rats had pulled a block or part of a block out of the bait station and he'd found it and thought oh that looks tasty.

Have brought him home from the vets this evening, he's a lot better but not out of the woods by a long way. Christ I feel guilty, it's all my bloody fault. Be extra careful guys with bait, trust me it's not nice seeing you four legged companions like that.

Can totally sympathise with you here. Called at my parents house last year, they were out, golden Labrador was in, but not himself.
First trip to vet said kennel cough !!
Another opinion and said it sounded like a rat bait issue.
Very nearly lost him. Blood for transfusion arrived in nic of time. Two transfusions later, and 48 hrs in the vets got him round.

Smiffy101 · Sep 19, 2017

Try the big bags of colerfull stuff the dogs dont seem to pay any attention to it as mine will eat anything they can be a nightmare

Alicecow · Sep 19, 2017

Flocumafen (Storm) active ingredient is more toxic to dogs and cats that other types. If using blocks try threading them onto a piece of wire and fasten it to something solid so it can't be dragged out to somewhere accessible to pets. Hindsight is a wonderful thing

Gatehouse Farm · Sep 19, 2017

Well he's just eaten some plain rice and chicken so fingers crossed we've turned a corner.

Purli R · Sep 19, 2017

Everything"s crossed for you n your mate

Gator · Sep 19, 2017

@Gatehouse Farm, Good luck mate I hope he makes a full recovery.

Woolgatherer · Sep 19, 2017

A friends collie ate a load of rat bait and with quick treatment from the vet, she was fine, took a while to get back to normal completely though. I had 2 geese who got into some of the grain variety and ate the lot. They had vit k injections and were fine too. I hope your dog recovers quickly.

kill · Sep 19, 2017

My dog ate rat poison when he was around 6 months old and bleed from mouth and gums and threw up blood. One hell of a state and never thought he would make that night but he's 8 years now so hopefully yours will pull though

RagnarHairybreeks · Sep 20, 2017

Had a staffie x sheepdog once that ate an entire litre of slug pellets - didn't rock him at all. A few weeks later he almost died by trying to eat an entire pork roast he stole in one bite - I pulled the fist sized lump of meat out of his throat, he came round, threw up, stood up, shook his head then ate the vomit and the pork again. Bloody stupid animal (loved him to bits mind).

Sounds like yours is on the way to recovery, all the very best wishes from me.

Gatehouse Farm · Sep 20, 2017

Well he seems much better today, not his normal,self yet but better. Still eating rice and chicken and came for a short walk this morning but got tired very quickly which is hardly surprising the amount of blood he lost!

Bald Rick · Sep 20, 2017

Rats have neophobia (fear of new things) so will drag bait back to their lair. Not unusual for bait to be carried out of the most carefully laid stations.
Lost a collie to poison so hope yours pulls through

glasshouse · Sep 20, 2017

where do they get the blood?

A cautionary tale!

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