Dog health: Vet warns of risk of mouldy food

Dogs can get into things which can sometimes make them sick.

A visit to the vet can be stressful for both dog and owner, but there are ways to keep those visits to a minimum.

One of the major issues vets have to deal with is illness caused by mycotoxicosis, something that can make a dog not only very sick but can also at times be fatal.

Sarah Bird at Dannevirke Vet Services.

Sarah Bird, at Dannevirke Vet Services, says she’s seen about three or four cases in the past year.

But what is a mycotoxin and what can a dog owner do to prevent it?

According to one website, mycotoxins are “poisonous substances produced by fungi and moulds”.

These usually grow on spoiled food, but can also be found in the compost heap.

Sarah says there are a huge number of them and most are probably not identified.

“The main ones we see in dogs are from mouldy food,” she says.

The number of cases the vets can see is unpredictable as it does “tend to come in waves”.

“Summer is a risk factor because food tends to go off quicker.”

There are a few different toxins that affect the brain and cause seizures and muscle tremors in dogs.

“Potentially those things can cause the dog to die and we do occasionally have fatal cases,” Sarah says.

Usually, it just makes the dog very sick and while it is sometimes relatively short-lived, the dog is often in the clinic for at least two days, or up to four days.

Often that means frequent monitoring to see if the dog will seizure again, she says.

Preventing it may sound easy, but if a dog is prone to getting into things, owners need to be aware of anything which can potentially cause harm.

“[It’s] being aware that if they throw some mouldy bread out, you probably shouldn’t do that because your dog might eat it.”

Sarah says more people are composting, which is fine, but owners also need to make sure that their compost heap isn’t accessible for the dog.

How vets treat the dog depends on how much they’ve ingested and how quickly the dog has been brought in, she says.

“If we get them fast enough, we can actually make them vomit, but usually what we do is anaesthetise and lavage out their stomach. It’s quite a procedure.”

Dealing with the cases can often be quite stressful, not just for the owner, but also for those in the clinic, Sarah says, because they’re presented with a dog in complete seizure and the vet has to try to control the seizure and then decontaminate them or get rid of what’s causing the seizures.

“You can have them here for four days [and to] try and medicate them appropriately is very difficult, just with the medications we have in New Zealand at the moment.”

She says some dogs do really well and have a good recovery.

“Some can take months to properly recover. Some will die, unfortunately, and that’s always really hard for the owners.”