Dog has swallowed a mouse- should I be worried?

[missmargot]

I discovered my Pug eating something in the garden just now, when he saw me coming he swallowed it whole just in time for me to see a tail vanishing into his mouth. I'm assuming it was a mouse or possibly a baby rat.

We haven't put any poison down but we back onto a farm so I guess they may have done. How worried do I need to be? He is up to date with all his vaccinations, fleshing, worming etc.

[Bakeoffcakes]

I would just keep an eye on him, if he does seem a bit poorly then phone the vet.

He should be fine though, I'm sure he's eaten them before, but you just haven't caught him.

[Bakeoffcakes]

Our Jack Russell was bitten by a grass snake last week. I was in a right old state, but she didn't suffer one bit. She kept trying to escape outside to have a norther "play" with it!

[missmargot]

Just after I posted this my husband noticed blue around his mouth,the same colour as poison. We rushed him to the vets and they've admitted him. Trying very hard to not cry

[curiousgeorgie]

What have they said? How did he seem on the way?

[missmargot]

He seemed fine which is a good sign. The vets are going to induce vomiting to bring as much back up as possible and put him on fluids. Depending on his condition after this he might need a blood transfusion or surgery, or he could be absolutely fine. The mouse looked decomposed from what we saw which would be a good thing in terms of the strength of the poison.

[SistersOfPercy]

Fingers cross for you

[Florin]

Keeping everything crossed for you x

[missmargot]

Thank you. No news yet, which could mean they are very busy treating him or that they are waiting to see whether he becomes ill. Hard to know whether no news is good news or not.

The irony is that it's our dizzy female Pug who usually gets into mischief and has ridiculous accidents, not our sensible boy. When we arrived at the vets they all assumed it was her who had eaten the mouse.

[SaskiaRembrandtWasFramed]

Keeping everything crossed here too!

[Helgathehairy]

Fingers crossed for your boy.

I was going to say at least it was dead - I've previously spent 10 minutes trying to get my Golden Retriever to drop a LIVE mouse! He did eventually and the mouse just seemed a bit damp! Still not sure why he did it, not like him at all.

[missmargot]

Thank you for all your kind words. He's now back home and incredibly spritely for a dog that has eaten and been forced to regurgitate a poisoned mouse.

We have a list of symptoms to watch for over the next 5 days but poison control said that most domestic rat poisons would need to be consumed at a rate of 100g per kg of body weight to cause a serious problem and the amount in a decomposed mouse would be minimal.

Thank goodness for brilliant vets and pet insurance!

[TheHoneyBadger]

wow a whole story in a few posts! i saw the title and was coming on to say just make sure his worming is up to date, then saw the poison comment, then the vets and now he's home! phew.

you're really unlucky i'd say (and i bet the bill reflects that) as i have a small dog who given half the chance would wolf down the mice, rats etc caught and deposited for my delectation by the cat i used to have and she never had any problems. i'm ashamed to admit it never even occurred to me to think about poison - i shall be more aware now.

[TheHoneyBadger]

then again it probably never occurred to me because i grew up with cats and they were always catching and eating all kinds of vermin and none of them ever had any problems (and most lived till between 17 and 20 which i'm told is a good old age for cats).

if i saw blue around my other dogs mouth i'd just know she'd been balancing on the playhouse to reach the blackberries she loves again

everything crossed that your boy will be fine x

[missmargot]

I don't think the Pugs are bright enough to catch anything living, the vet said she thinks the mouse was fairly decayed when he ate it. I thought that dogs would have avoided rotten meat but clearly I'm wrong.

They do guzzle blackberries a lot though, the first time I saw dark purple poo I did panic until I realised what it was. This blue was bright blue though, you definitely wouldn't have thought it was anything natural.

[TheHoneyBadger]

decayed is a good thing in the case of poison i guess (def do an extra worming though once fit and well again i'd say). glad my lab is not the only blackberry addict. will soon be that time of year where we go for walks in the fields and the lab is stripping the bushes at one height, ds the next level up and me the top layer the lhassa is too oblivious to notice them.

never seen purple poo! though it reminds me of a cousin who came running down the stairs screeching that his wee was purple after endlessly consuming the beetroot we grew for days on end.

[missmargot]

I knew there was a reason I hated beetroot!

We have blackberry and raspberry bushes in the garden and it's very amusing seeing two little Pug tails poking out of the bushes. I thought that's where he had disappeared to earlier but I will be much more vigilant in future.