Dead Rodent & Cavaliers

A friend was walking Kirra and as it was dark, not sure if she swallowed a dead rodent (mouse or bird). which was near the footpath.

I was ahead of them and so never noticed this until my friend said she thought Kirra had picked up something and when we both tried to see, Kirra had obviously eaten whatever it was.

I am obviously concerned if this is the case - hence this enquiry for guidance as to health etc.

Has your cavaliers done same

Oh boy, that sounds like Daisy. She will pick up anything she can get in her mouth on a walk and a dead bird or mouse would be considered a delicacy.

My only concern would be if the animal had died because of ingesting a poison or something like that, which is probably very remote. And even if they did, I have read/heard that a dog could eat an entire package of rat poison without harm. So it's probaby more of a gross-out thing than a dangerous thing!

Gabby ate a mouse about a month ago, I can still see the little legs sticking out of her mouth. The leave it command went out of the window (Gabby is usually good with the leave it command). It totally freaked me out, when we got home I phoned the vets for advice which was that dogs do eat gross things and that if I noticed Gabby feeling unwell to bring her into the vets. Gabby was fine although she had no breakfast that morning, myself, however . (The mouse was already dead.)
Jasper on the other hand would never stoop so low :xfngr: :lol:.

I'm sure she'll be fine - usually if it is something really unpleasant, they vomit it back up again.

Just watch her for tummy ache, any signs of drooling or possibly diarrhoea.

As we have 2 cats who are good hunters, Murphy has snacked on a couple of dead things in the past. He was fine on these occasions. Although once he was sick after one, it came back up in one piece:grnyuk:

We've taught him to leave these things now, as before he'd rush out the door before you to see if there was anything about. I'd just keep an eyeon her

We have huge windows in our living room and birds are always crashing into them. Most of them just get stunned, recover, and fly away. There are some however that hit them really hard and die. With four dogs who I let loose in my fenced in yard, it is inevitable that one of them will find the tasty snack. None of them have ever been sick from their snacks. I was out of town for Thanksgiving and the dogs were home with my hubbie. He said that Riley twice brought him dead birds to the door. She stood guard over them, not letting the other dogs get near them. She let Howard scoop them up, but she had obviously had a little taste each time because she had feathers in her mouth! Gross for me, but delicious for her I'm sure!!

Quote -- "I have read/heard that a dog could eat an entire package of rat poison without harm."

Yikes - this is absolutely NOT true!! A lot depends on the type of rodenticide used. Some are quite lethal. Some info copied and pasted below:


Rodenticides
(from the NPCAA website)

Bromethalin
Cholecalciferol
Diphacinone
Fumarin
Strychnine
Warfarin
Zinc Phsphide

Poisons intended to kill rats, mice, gophers, moles and other mammalian pests are among the most common and deadly of small animal toxins. Substances highly poisonous to the pests are just as lethal to our pets. Rodenticides are highly toxic and any such poisons designed to kill small mammals need to be carefully contained in closed metal cabinets or high on stable shelving. The poisons usually come in flimsy cardboard containers and any dog, puppy or cat can chew through the container to get at the bait.

Rodenticides are classified according to both their basic ingredient compounds and by how they act on their target. These categories include: Anti-coagulant rodenticides, cholecalciferol, strychnine, zinc phosphide, bromethalin, compound 1080 and others.

The most common rodenticide poisoning seen in veterinary practice is that of the anti-coagulant rodenticides. These poisons - with ingredient names like warfarin, fumarin, diphacinone, bromadiolone - act by interfering with the animal's ability to utilize Vitamin K. One of they key roles of Vitamin K is in the production of coagulation factors in the body which cause blood to clot when necessary. Without the necessary coagulation factors, normal minor bleeding in the body goes unchecked which, without treatment, becomes major bleeding, with blood loss anemia, hemorrhage and death resulting. With most anti-coagulant rodenticides, signs are not seen until 3-5 days after the pet has ingested the poison. Clinical signs include weakness, difficult breathing, pale mucous membranes, and bleeding from the nose.

Other types of rodenticides have different mechanisms of action with some (i.e., strychnine and bromethalin) causing neurological signs such as incoordination, seizures and others cardiac failure (i.e., cholecalciferol). If accidental ingestion of rat poison is suspected, contact your veterinary clinic immediately, even if your dog or cat is showing no obvious signs of being ill. Be sure, if possible, to bring the poison container in to the clinic in order to determine the specific toxin and provide the best treatment. Early recognition is critical as some poisons, particularly the anti-coagulant rodenticides, can be successfully treated if the poisoning is caught early and treated appropriately.

We had a pigeon fly into the porch and kill itself. Amber, thankfully, did not try to eat it. She just growled at it and since it was dark that was what alerted us to the fact that something funny was happening.

When Zeus, our retriever was fairly young I was walking him on a flexible lead and letting him crash through the bush a bit. He came out with two little bird feet sticking out of his mouth! I could NOT bring myself to pry open his mouth to retrieve the remainder. I imagine the bird was already dead. A few hours later he vomited it up on my carpet (nearly whole). He was fine.

One night in the dead of winter Mindy woke me up to go outside. Usually she goes out and then comes right back in again. This time she didn't and she didn't come when I called her which she always did. I had to put on my boots and jacket and go out on the deck. I saw her eating something but this time she came when I called. The thing she was eating was a rabbit. EWWWW!!! I can't for the life of me imagine her catching a rabbit and killing it (she's just not that big) but the alternative is that it dropped dead in the middle of my yard. I never did figure out how it got there. Mindy had diarrhea the next day but then she was fine. I made hubby dispose of the carcass so I don't have any idea how much she actually had. I suppose only as much as she could eat in the five minutes or so until I called her off.

Echoing Pat here -- death due to eating rat poison is absolutely hideous and painful for any dog or cat and they must be immediately rushed to the vet. Snail pellets incidentally are also horrifically poisonous, and as they look like kibble to dogs, they will often eat them given the chance. I know of two different dogs that died after eating snail pellets.

I'm not sure what type of mouse poison our exterminator used. It looked like a D-Con type product. It was a long time ago, but I think the information was from the exterminator himself when I asked him about its safety if Daisy would happen to get into it. He may have been lying to me or misinformed, but that's what he told me. It may have also been the particular type of mouse bait it was.

(It is only in our attic and floored storage space that is behind doors that are never opened, so I wasn't too concerned because Daisy couldn't get to either place, but I thought I'd ask him, just in case.)

Sorry if the info he gave me was wrong or just specific to the particular type of mouse bait he used! Didn't mean to mislead anyone!