It's that time of year again - time to winterize our lawns, homes, and automobiles.
If you will be changing your antifreeze, please be sure to clean up any spills right away and keep new and used fluids in a sealed container.
Dogs and cats can find antifreeze very tasty and will drink it! Antifreeze is extremely toxic. Poisoning can be fatal in just a few days. And it doesn't take much: a few tablespoons can kill a medium sized dog, and if a cat walks through a puddle and licks its paws, it can ingest enough to cause death!
If you see your pet ingesting antifreeze or are suspicious it has had access to antifreeze, please contact us as soon as possible.
In the first few hours your pet may seem depressed, may stagger, or may have seizures. Your pet may also drink lots of water, urinate large amounts, and vomit. Your pet may appear to get better but in a day or two get much worse as the kidneys fail. Signs of kidney failure include depression and vomiting.
Diagnosis is made by blood and urine tests. Treatment needs to start as soon as possible after ingestion. Once kidney failure develops, most animals will die.
If your pet is seen within a few hours of ingesting antifreeze, vomiting is induced to remove any antifreeze still in the stomach. There are also antidotes that can be administered. Pets that are presented with kidney failure can sometimes be saved with aggressive treatment.
Please keep your pets safe this winter and treat antifreeze as a highly poisonous substance!
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