Thursday, April 28, 2011

Canine Health Watch - Food Poisoning

By Jerry Welsh


Dog owners have become more careful with the kind of food given to pets after many dogs were killed because of contaminated pet food. Dogs have died from severe liver damage caused by contaminated commercial dog food. Dog owners that want to have healthy pets would provide expensive high quality commercial dog food. But when it comes to the health and well being of the pet, the cost would be the least of the concerns of dog owners. Although considered to be of high quality, some dog food contains toxic ingredients that are harmful to dogs. There will always be a possibility that the dog can be poisoned by the commercially prepared food.

Dogs are often treated as the baby of the family. As such, dog owners that are aware of the toxic pet food scare would take the time to provide the dog home cooked meals and human food. The risk of poisoning will indeed be lessened if not totally eliminated if the pet's food is prepared by the owner but dog owners should be careful as some human foods are also toxic to dogs.

Dogs are voracious and indiscriminate eaters and interesting smells emanating from trash bins or garbage heap will cause the dog to rummage frantically and any treasure found it will be eaten and enjoyed by the dog. Dogs are known to gobble up even unfamiliar food and newly introduced diet. Dog owners have the habit of sharing anything they eat with the pet thus bites of chocolate or grapes will be given to the dog. All these scenarios can result to food poisoning.

What will happen to a dog that has ingested contaminated food? The dog's systems will immediately stop ingested toxins from spreading to prevent the occurrence of serious damage to the dog's vital organs. Vomiting and diarrhea are the dog's system's way of flushing out ingested toxin. Vomiting is an indication that the offending substance still remains in the stomach. Diarrhea indicates that the lower intestines are already affected by the toxin. If the dog is vomiting and having diarrhea, it means that the dogs digestive system is already affected.

Poisoning can result to the death of the dog thus it is imperative for the pet to receive the necessary attention. Food poisoning is a life threatening situation especially if the dog has swallowed sizeable amount of the contaminated food thus the pet has to have urgent medical attention. However knowing the real condition of the dog is quite difficult. To be on the safe side it would be best to rush the pet to the vet's.




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