My dog keeps eating cigarette butts. How can I stop this toxic habit?

While cigarette butts do contain small amounts of nicotine, which can be toxic to dogs in large enough doses, a single cigarette butt in an 80 lb dog would not be expected to cause any significant issues. It's possible that you might see some mild GI upset if it irritates his stomach, but otherwise I would not expect to see any symptoms of a problem, and no specific treatment on your part should be needed. :)

Unfortunately even one cigarette butt is poisonous enough to cause serious toxicity in a small puppy. If you have not inspected the vomitus of your puppy and found the butt in it then it did not come out and you need to take your puppy to a pet ER or a vet for an exam. Signs of nicotine poisoning occur within an hour of ingestion and include tremors, drooling, hallucinations, constricted pupils, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, increased heart rate and high blood pressure.

Good on you for reaching out for help and information! The toxic level of nicotine in dogs is 5 milligrams of nicotine per pound of body weight. In dogs, 10 mg/kg is potentially lethal. One cigarette contains 15 to 25 milligrams of nicotine depending on the brand. So two cigarettes would contain 30-50mg of nicotine. That means if your dog weighs 30kg (66lbs), she would have potentially consumed 1mg/kg to 1.67mg/kg. If she weighs 5kg (11lbs), she would have potentially consumed 6mg/kg-10mg/kg (potentially lethal dose). I'm not sure how much your dog weighs, but if she is a larger dog (over 50lbs), she likely did not consume enough to be toxic. The signs of toxicity are dose-dependent and generally begin within one hour of ingestion. Many dogs will vomit naturally after ingestion. I would monitor her for now. Watch out for tremors, weakness, stumbling, lethargy, drooling, vomiting, diarrhea, or difficulty breathing. If you see any of these signs, get Kai into your vet right away.

Hello, sorry to hear about Nala. It is common for dogs to vomit after chewing cigarettes containing nicotine. Typically, decontamination of nicotine, the toxicant, occurs during the vomiting episode and dogs do not experience other symptoms of toxicity. However if ingestion of nicotine does occur, dogs can experience other symptoms such as abnormal heart rates and rhythms, abnormalities in blood pressures and even seizures or tremors. After ingestion of nicotine containing products, it is recommended that patients get evaluated by a veterinarian to monitor their heart rate, blood pressure, and neurologic status. If you are concerned that Nala may have ingested the cigarette, then you should have her evaluated by a veterinarian. Otherwise, monitor for more vomiting, lethargy, weakness, and episodes of collapse, or trembling and seizing. If you note any, contact your veterinarian immediately. Hope this helps and best of luck.

If your pups are doing great today, yes, you should be in the clear. Symptoms of nicotine usually show up quite quickly (within the first couple hours), and if the pet is doing well 12 hours later typically we've got a really good prognosis. Here's some helpful info on nicotine toxicity in dogs if you're interested in some more reading: https://www.mspca.org/angell_services/nicotine-toxicity/ Hope this helps!

If it is that big of an issue, I would look into teaching Snowball "Leave it". You can find various tutorials on YouTube that will walk you through it. Basically, it teaches Snowball that it isn't OK to just pick things up off the ground and eat them, and that she'll be rewarded for leaving it behind instead. Teaching other things such as drop/trading what's in her mouth for a reward, may also help. You should still be walking her, but you can keep an eye on her during your walks, and if you see her start to eat something, move her to another area, or remove the item from her mouth. If she's very mouthy and likes to carry toys, you can also bring a toy along on your walks for her to keep in her mouth and potentially deter on other things. If she does get into something she shouldn't and is ill, having your local vet's number on hand is always best as even the most vigilant of owners and well-trained of dogs can sometimes get into things they shouldn't.

Hi Nicki! Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question. This is concerning because nicotine is toxic to dogs. Since you aren't sure if they ingested any or not, I'd keep an eye on them for now. If you see tremors, constricted pupils, drooling, excitement, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures, a racing heart rate, or twitching, take them into a vet immediately. Typically signs of toxicity occur within one hour. I hope this helps!