Thursday, April 14, 2011

Alcohol is Poisonous to Dogs

By Jerry Welsh


Most people that enjoys an alcoholic drink once in a while would know how a drunk dog would feel. Dogs are food motivated but the strong smell of hard liquors may not be very interesting. The aroma and the fruity sweetness of beer and wine would certainly be very interesting to a dog. For fun; some dog owners train the pet to drink beer from the can.

Alcohol is listed as poisonous to dogs. A dog that happens to drink an alcoholic beverage would not only suffer the consequences of drinking like humans do but may need an urgent trip to a veterinary facility. Dogs cannot handle alcohol so that ingestion of an alcoholic beverage can result to the death of the dog. Alcoholic beverages have ethanol as the main ingredient. Ethanol, also known as grain alcohol and ethyl alcohol is toxic to dogs. Dog can get alcohol poisoning not only from drinking alcoholic beverages. Poisoning can be caused by medications that have ethanol. Although a rare occurrence alcohol poisoning can happen if the dog ingests yeast dough. The poisoning occurs when the yeast dough ingested by the dog ferments inside the warm gastrointestinal tract of the dog and produces ethanol.

15 to 30 minutes after the dog has downed the beer or lapped the spilled wine, the toxic effects of alcohol will start to manifest. Just like an intoxicated human, the dog would drool, vomit and manifest behavioral changes. The dogs would be seen urinating frequently and showing uncoordinated movements.

Poisoning will depend on the amount of alcoholic beverage consumed compared to the body weight of the dog. An alcoholic drink-filled shot glass that can get a person slightly drunk may already have a fatal effect on the dog considering the fact that dogs have lower body weights as compared to humans. The dog may then suffer from breathing difficulties and slow respiratory rates. Prompt medical attention will be necessary as the dog's condition can progress to coma and the pet can expire from cardiac arrest.

Dog owner would not have to guess what happened to the pet if it was seen lapping an alcoholic beverage. But if nobody has seen the dog ingesting alcoholic beverage, the alcoholic odor on the dog's mouth should give the owners an idea that the pet is manifesting symptoms of alcoholic poisoning. To give a definite diagnosis, the vet may do a blood ethanol concentration test. The life of the pet can still be saved if activated charcoal and IV drips are administered.




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