• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Dog died, could have been rat poison?

Airyaman

Airyaman

New Druid
Supporting Member
DP Veteran
Monthly Donator
Joined
Dec 4, 2018
Messages
27,093
Reaction score
27,581
Location
AL
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Other
Last night my outdoor dog passed away. I found him at the end of the house with labored breathing, unable to stand. He could occasionally raise his head, but that was about it. I brought him in and laid him on a blanket in my bathroom, hoping he would make it through the night so I could take him to the vet this morning. Sometime between 10 PM and 4 AM he passed away.

At the time, I was hoping that maybe he was just sick and a vet visit would help. I had no clue he might have been poisoned because we (my neighbor and I, she lives on my property) live decently far from anyone else, and he rarely wanders.

When I found him this morning, the urine discharge he had was very bloody. That is why I looked up what might cause such a thing, and I ruled out other causes because he showed no prior symptoms. It looks like rat poison because they cause internal bleeding.

Here's the rub: my neighbor was pretty upset he had died because he was pretty much her dog as much as mine. That being said, I don't want to ask her if she put out rat poison, because she would feel even worse if she felt she might be responsible. Yet, my concern is my own indoor dog who goes out 2-3 times a day for short trips, and might find wherever the poison is and eat some.

What would you do in a situation such as this?
 
Sorry to hear of that Airyaman.
 
I'd let her know the symptoms are of rat poison and if she has used any. That must be, carefully asked, in sympatico considering both of yours relation with the dog, and you having your own dog. Go from there. I think should you must say anything, you'll say the right thing.

I don't eat chocolate because, among other reason, if I leave it out my beloved dog, as I walk away to the bathroom, will eat it and get sick. Greater than that is my fear she should die, which is very unlikely. It's like the western movie where the partners come back to camp and find it destroyed with one of their guys killed and the other missing. They're mortified. But then they find the dead, loyal dog. Now their pissed.
 
I'm very sorry to read this.

Your vet can do a necropsy to see if it was in fact poison.

I would be very clear with the neighbor. If she has rat poison around, she should remove it immediately. If she doesn't, the poor thing could have been intentionally poisoned.
 
Airyaman said:
Last night my outdoor dog passed away. I found him at the end of the house with labored breathing, unable to stand. He could occasionally raise his head, but that was about it. I brought him in and laid him on a blanket in my bathroom, hoping he would make it through the night so I could take him to the vet this morning. Sometime between 10 PM and 4 AM he passed away.

At the time, I was hoping that maybe he was just sick and a vet visit would help. I had no clue he might have been poisoned because we (my neighbor and I, she lives on my property) live decently far from anyone else, and he rarely wanders.

When I found him this morning, the urine discharge he had was very bloody. That is why I looked up what might cause such a thing, and I ruled out other causes because he showed no prior symptoms. It looks like rat poison because they cause internal bleeding.

Here's the rub: my neighbor was pretty upset he had died because he was pretty much her dog as much as mine. That being said, I don't want to ask her if she put out rat poison, because she would feel even worse if she felt she might be responsible. Yet, my concern is my own indoor dog who goes out 2-3 times a day for short trips, and might find wherever the poison is and eat some.

What would you do in a situation such as this?
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear about your loss.

As a precaution for your indoor dog, though, I'd keep some Vitamin K on-hand, just in case. It's an antidote for Warfarin poisoning.
 
How big was the dog? I've asked vets about that and they said the commercially available stuff you put around your house isnt usually enough to do much harm to a dog...it would take a lot ingested.

And if it was over a period of time, hopefully you or the neighbor would have noticed symptoms.
 
Airyaman said:
Last night my outdoor dog passed away. I found him at the end of the house with labored breathing, unable to stand. He could occasionally raise his head, but that was about it. I brought him in and laid him on a blanket in my bathroom, hoping he would make it through the night so I could take him to the vet this morning. Sometime between 10 PM and 4 AM he passed away.

At the time, I was hoping that maybe he was just sick and a vet visit would help. I had no clue he might have been poisoned because we (my neighbor and I, she lives on my property) live decently far from anyone else, and he rarely wanders.

When I found him this morning, the urine discharge he had was very bloody. That is why I looked up what might cause such a thing, and I ruled out other causes because he showed no prior symptoms. It looks like rat poison because they cause internal bleeding.
Click to expand...

Sounds like your diagnosis is right. If your dog was very old it could have been kidney failure, but you'd probably have noticed bloating in the preceding days.

Airyaman said:
Here's the rub: my neighbor was pretty upset he had died because he was pretty much her dog as much as mine. That being said, I don't want to ask her if she put out rat poison, because she would feel even worse if she felt she might be responsible. Yet, my concern is my own indoor dog who goes out 2-3 times a day for short trips, and might find wherever the poison is and eat some.

What would you do in a situation such as this?
Click to expand...

Get a sniffer rat? No time for jokes, I see.

Rat poison is made to only appeal to rats, though I'm sure you know SOME dogs will eat anything. I'm going to suggest sinister intent by other neighbours you might have: if they mixed rat poison in with mince-meat, that would entice just about any dog. Upside of that is that the meat and poison will be all gone now. And the same for some other poison they might have used (not listing possibilities here, for obvious reasons).

Back to the obvious though, your friendly neighbour. You could go through her trash while she's out, perhaps. Look around her place for dispensers or existing bait. This is what I'd do, but it might seem too sneaky to you, it's really just trying to rule out a possibility that you ask her and she gets really angry and you still don't know if that's evasive or whether she was well aware all along and never would put bait outside.

I guess the only intercept between honest and effective (to protect your remaining dog) is to make sure your friendly neighbour knows how the dog died (she might work it out for herself) and keep a close eye on your remaining dog when it's outside. Dogs vomit quite easily, so maybe keep some ipecac syrup handy in case he/she gobbles something up before you can stop them.

OH one more thing. If you have hostile neighbours poisoning your dogs, I hope you can catch them on camera. They probably won't go to jail but they really should.
 
Airyaman said:
Last night my outdoor dog passed away. I found him at the end of the house with labored breathing, unable to stand. He could occasionally raise his head, but that was about it. I brought him in and laid him on a blanket in my bathroom, hoping he would make it through the night so I could take him to the vet this morning. Sometime between 10 PM and 4 AM he passed away.

At the time, I was hoping that maybe he was just sick and a vet visit would help. I had no clue he might have been poisoned because we (my neighbor and I, she lives on my property) live decently far from anyone else, and he rarely wanders.

When I found him this morning, the urine discharge he had was very bloody. That is why I looked up what might cause such a thing, and I ruled out other causes because he showed no prior symptoms. It looks like rat poison because they cause internal bleeding.

Here's the rub: my neighbor was pretty upset he had died because he was pretty much her dog as much as mine. That being said, I don't want to ask her if she put out rat poison, because she would feel even worse if she felt she might be responsible. Yet, my concern is my own indoor dog who goes out 2-3 times a day for short trips, and might find wherever the poison is and eat some.

What would you do in a situation such as this?
Click to expand...
That does not sound like rat poison, rat poison is very slow to kill a dog and dehydrates them, so the transition would not have been quick.

My better guess would be a poisonous snake bite or maybe someone using more potent poison.

When I was a kid my siberian husky was poisoned by neighbors, with meat that had numerous glass shards in it, she ended up dying fast and it the same manner. The neighbor who was also a school janitor was a very mellow guy, but his nephews were staying with him who were there for being trouble makers and law breakers their mother could not handle.

I remember hearing numerous times before the dog got poisoned and they got charged as adults all whitey's must die. It took me years to realize some people are assholes, we never did anything to them, their uncle and my family were friends, and their uncle viewed people as good unless proven otherwise, but some people just felt the world needed to be punished, in my dogs case it was because it was a dog owned by a white family despite living in a highly mixed neighborhood in virginia beach,
 
beerftw said:
That does not sound like rat poison, rat poison is very slow to kill a dog and dehydrates them, so the transition would not have been quick.

My better guess would be a poisonous snake bite or maybe someone using more potent poison.

When I was a kid my siberian husky was poisoned by neighbors, with meat that had numerous glass shards in it, she ended up dying fast and it the same manner. The neighbor who was also a school janitor was a very mellow guy, but his nephews were staying with him who were there for being trouble makers and law breakers their mother could not handle.

I remember hearing numerous times before the dog got poisoned and they got charged as adults all whitey's must die. It took me years to realize some people are assholes, we never did anything to them, their uncle and my family were friends, and their uncle viewed people as good unless proven otherwise, but some people just felt the world needed to be punished, in my dogs case it was because it was a dog owned by a white family despite living in a highly mixed neighborhood in virginia beach,
Click to expand...


I hope the truth is found out. A poisonous snake bite is one thing. It could have been another kind of poison, much more lethal, still about the premises. Worse yet, poisoned meat purposely being put out for someone's pet to eat.
 
Commiserations re your loss , OP .
But clearly another Covid New Case by the sound of it !! Get it booked quickly and ask your GP if they will split the bonus payment .
 
Airyaman said:
Last night my outdoor dog passed away. I found him at the end of the house with labored breathing, unable to stand. He could occasionally raise his head, but that was about it. I brought him in and laid him on a blanket in my bathroom, hoping he would make it through the night so I could take him to the vet this morning. Sometime between 10 PM and 4 AM he passed away.

At the time, I was hoping that maybe he was just sick and a vet visit would help. I had no clue he might have been poisoned because we (my neighbor and I, she lives on my property) live decently far from anyone else, and he rarely wanders.

When I found him this morning, the urine discharge he had was very bloody. That is why I looked up what might cause such a thing, and I ruled out other causes because he showed no prior symptoms. It looks like rat poison because they cause internal bleeding.

Here's the rub: my neighbor was pretty upset he had died because he was pretty much her dog as much as mine. That being said, I don't want to ask her if she put out rat poison, because she would feel even worse if she felt she might be responsible. Yet, my concern is my own indoor dog who goes out 2-3 times a day for short trips, and might find wherever the poison is and eat some.

What would you do in a situation such as this?
Click to expand...

I'm so sorry to hear that.
I'd just take the other dog out on a leash.
 
Airyaman said:
Last night my outdoor dog passed away. I found him at the end of the house with labored breathing, unable to stand. He could occasionally raise his head, but that was about it. I brought him in and laid him on a blanket in my bathroom, hoping he would make it through the night so I could take him to the vet this morning. Sometime between 10 PM and 4 AM he passed away.

At the time, I was hoping that maybe he was just sick and a vet visit would help. I had no clue he might have been poisoned because we (my neighbor and I, she lives on my property) live decently far from anyone else, and he rarely wanders.

When I found him this morning, the urine discharge he had was very bloody. That is why I looked up what might cause such a thing, and I ruled out other causes because he showed no prior symptoms. It looks like rat poison because they cause internal bleeding.

Here's the rub: my neighbor was pretty upset he had died because he was pretty much her dog as much as mine. That being said, I don't want to ask her if she put out rat poison, because she would feel even worse if she felt she might be responsible. Yet, my concern is my own indoor dog who goes out 2-3 times a day for short trips, and might find wherever the poison is and eat some.

What would you do in a situation such as this?
Click to expand...

Did you ever figure this situation out?
 
Airyaman said:
Last night my outdoor dog passed away. I found him at the end of the house with labored breathing, unable to stand. He could occasionally raise his head, but that was about it. I brought him in and laid him on a blanket in my bathroom, hoping he would make it through the night so I could take him to the vet this morning. Sometime between 10 PM and 4 AM he passed away.

At the time, I was hoping that maybe he was just sick and a vet visit would help. I had no clue he might have been poisoned because we (my neighbor and I, she lives on my property) live decently far from anyone else, and he rarely wanders.

When I found him this morning, the urine discharge he had was very bloody. That is why I looked up what might cause such a thing, and I ruled out other causes because he showed no prior symptoms. It looks like rat poison because they cause internal bleeding.

Here's the rub: my neighbor was pretty upset he had died because he was pretty much her dog as much as mine. That being said, I don't want to ask her if she put out rat poison, because she would feel even worse if she felt she might be responsible. Yet, my concern is my own indoor dog who goes out 2-3 times a day for short trips, and might find wherever the poison is and eat some.

What would you do in a situation such as this?
Click to expand...

We had a scare with our dogs a year or so ago. They survived, but the issue was somehow a partial pack of chewing gum and ended up in our back yard. I honestly don't know why there aren't more PSAs out there, but the artificial sweeteners they use in most chewing gum (Xylitol... aka "Birch Sugar") is deadly to dogs even in very small doses.. it causes multi organ failure if not treated within ours of ingestion.

We had to sweep our house of all artificially sweetened gum after that. We still don't know how the gum got in the back yard, probably dropped by a bird who picked out out of some neighborhood garbage can.
 
Many years ago a neighbor of mine poisoned my dog. Shortly afterwards my neighbor died. May he rot in Hell. I loved that dog.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom