Keep your pets away from rat poison and insecticide to avoid poisoning them, resulting in painful and expensive treatment. Photo courtesy of www.dailymail.co.uk.
In the fall, all sorts of creepy critters may seek refuge in your home due to lowering temperatures outside. The solution to this problem is calling a pest control company or exterminator, or even setting up traps yourself. The chemicals in some anti-pest sprays as well as the snapping dangers of mouse traps can pose a threat to your cat or dog. Before you use pest control methods in your house, make sure you can protect your pet.
If you have an insect or rodent infestation, chemicals are one way to rid your house of the pests. Unfortunately, these can pose a health hazard to your cat or dog! If you’re calling in the professionals, make sure you ask if the methods they are using are harmful to animals. You may need to take your pet to another location for a few days until the chemicals disperse. They also make pet-friendly mousetraps, so ask at your local home improvement store.
Pets have a habit of finding their way into places they shouldn’t! Poison traps, especially those for rats, will undoubtedly be found by your cat or dog. As they say, curiosity killed the cat; make sure you remove your pet from the house if you are placing these kinds of dangerous traps. Symptoms of insecticide and rat poisoning include:
- Anorexia, or not eating
- Seizures
- Muscle tremors
- Fever or increased heart rate
- Depression
These can also be symptoms of other illnesses, so if your pet is exhibiting any of the following for an extended period of time, make an appointment with your veterinarian. Treatment of poisoning includes a lavage, or washing of the stomach using a tube; this also involves using charcoal to detoxify the remaining poisons. Antidotes of anti-seizure medications may be given as well if the vet sees fit. The cost of this treatment ranges from $300 to $500, depending on the type of poisoning.
The classic mouse and rat traps can snap on a curious pet’s paw, causing a painful bruise, or even a fracture in smaller animals. If your pet’s paw is firmly caught in a trap, don’t try and remove it yourself; it could catch your fingers instead, or your hurt pet could lash out at you. Some mousetraps use glue, which can cause sticky paws. Use vegetable oil to remove the substance from your pet, and try to prevent them from licking it off.
