My dog ate rat poison today. We are visiting my friends house and I was fortunate to be in her presence to see her eating what I thought was a bone of the others dogs. When I mentioned it to my friend, I was then informed it was not a bone rather a stick of rat poison.

We got her to the vet immediately and she was treated and released. We have been instructed to give her a week course of Vitamin K1. In reading the internet, this seems really scarey. The vitamin K seems to be linked to hemmoraging?

I am really nervous and not sure I truly understand the vitamin k1 ?

If you have any advice or experience with this PLEASE help..

bless u,

There must be a reason your doctor suggested it. If you're really worried call them up in the morning and discuss your issues. They should be able to soothe your fears.

I'm glad you got your dog to the vet so soon -- STICKS of rat poison? That's just asking for trouble with dogs around, not a good idea. =/ Good thing you asked your friend instead of just assuming.

[lulusmom]

It is the rat poison that will cause the hemorraging because it interferes with the blood clotting factors. Vitamin K aids in blood clotting and counteracts the effects of the poison. Listen to your vet.

Yes indeed, listen to your vet and continue the vitamin K treatment.

The most common forms of rat and mouse poison bind with vitamin K, causing the little critters to hemorrhage to death. So it's necessary to supplement with sufficient vitamin K to keep the normal clotting factors high enough to prevent hemorrhage until the poison clears they system.

luckily I have never had to deal with this situation before, but I can imagine how horrified you must have been to find your dog chewing on that!!! I have heard that vitamin K works for keeping certain poisons out of the blood stream, so I assume that is the reason. I'm honestly surprised that anything can save a dog that consumed that type of poison. The sticks are very powerful! That is good to know.

[mrandrei]

I'm not very familiar with vitamin K treatment, but you can contact any of these numbers (with charge):

SPCA National Animal Poison Control Center
1-900-443-0000
1-888-4ANI-HELP
Animal Poison Hotline
1-888-232-8870

[lil mutt]

I dont know about Vitamin K1 but have you asked any 2nd opinion from other vets?

I asked my vet about the vit k, she said it could be used to treat a poisoned pet. Listen to your vet. But if you're still in doubt, you can get a second option from vets too.

I pray he get well soon.follow the vet's instruction.

OK, most rat and mouse poisons use Warfarin as the active ingredient. It's the same medication used to treat people who develop blood clots, because it thins the blood and dissolves clots. At the correct dose, no harm is done. But too high of a dosage will lead to internal bleeding that can be life threatening. So, to kill rodents, they intentionally overdose the animals.

Warfarin works by binding vitamin K, so it's not available for the body to use. Vitamin K is essential for blood clotting factors to work. So, in the event of accidental overdose, or possible overdose, an increased dosage of vitamin K is used to prevent insufficiency, and prevent hemorrhages.

If the rodent poison is one supplied by a pest control company, there may be a different active ingredient, which is a much more serious situation. But veterinarians are aware of this. They'll want to know what brand of rat poison the pet ate. If your pet ingests a rodent poison, be sure to take the package with you, if at all possible. If you don't have the package, at least be able to identify exactly what brand it was.

Trust your vet. Rodent poisoning is fairly common, and they know how to treat it.