My dog ate a poisoned rat. Should I worry about secondary poisoning?

It can take up to four days for signs of rat bait poisoning to appear, and by then the dog is extremely sick. If you think this rat had gotten into rat bait, the best thing to do for your dogs is to take them into a vet immediately for treatment.

There are a couple things you should be concerned about, if your dog is not vaccinated then leptospirosis is a concern as Rats carry it and it is a serious disease in dogs (affecting the kidneys and liver). the main second concern is rat poison, if the rate ingested rat poison in the past couple weeks, then your dog could be poisoned too, these poisons are usually blood thinner which cause an animal to bleed to death, often it has a delayed action and the treatment for that is vitamin K, which must be given by your vet by injection first.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Silly Camper! My primary concern is actually the status of the rat. If it was dead or lethargic, or if there has been rat bait placed anywhere Camper could have gone, you need to see your vet first thing in the morning for Rat Poison antidote. Taken as a preventative, it should prevent any problems from occurring. Rat Poison is often FATAL in dogs if not treated and early treatment is very successful. So if there is ANY possibility, please see your vet. Otherwise, continue to monitor Camper. As long as he remains playful and energetic, with normal stool and no vomiting, you do not have much cause for concern. If any of that changes, its time to see your vet. Best of luck to you and Camper!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! While this rat poison has a different mechanism of action that has been advertised as being less harmful to dogs, it has been reported to cause issues in dogs including anemia, gastrointestinal upset, among other symptoms. For that reason, I would recommend that you contact the ASPCA poison control center as they specialize in the more uncommon toxicities in dogs and will have more information on how to proceed from here. Otherwise, have him evaluated by a veterinarian so that they can contact the poison control center for you and proceed with the treatment recommendations. This is time sensitive and he should be evaluated as soon as possible. I am hoping for a full recovery!

There are two things you can do: 1) nothing, just watch your dog for diarrhea and/or vomiting or paleness. If yoru dog vomits/gets diarrhea do the following: I would fast Bandit for 12 hours and then put her on bland food for two days, such as boiled white rice and boiled white boneless chicken meat, fed in small quantities over several feeds and then transition back to her regular food slowly over a few days. Should he get lethargic, and/or pale (check his gums), he needs to be seen by a vet as the rat may have died of rodenticide. OR 2) if your dog ate the rat within the past 90 minutes, take him to a vet to have him regurgitate the rat with a medication called apomorphine.

Mila should be seen by a veterinarian immediately. This product is an anti-coagulant poison that inhibits normal blood clotting and leads to internal bleeding. Fortunately, there is an effective antidote (Vitamin K) but it's important to make sure you minimize the amount of poison Mila absorbs, and get her started on the antidote. Depending on the timing of the ingestion, your vet may make Mila vomit, and may give her something to minimize absorption, or they may recommend testing her current blood clotting ability. Then they will likely start her on a regimen of Vitamin K. Hope this helps! https://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/poison/long-acting-anticoagulants-mouse-and-rat-poison/

In these cases close monitoring is needed both for any possible wound/injury from the fight and possible poisoning (some of these rats can be poisoned with rodenticide). Any external wound, lethargy, inappetence, signs of cough, vomiting or diarrhoea should be checked by your local vet.