Are batteries poisonous to dogs? | Dr. Justine Lee

Posted by justinelee in Animal Safety, Blog, Pet Health, Pet Help

While a battery may seem harmless to you, they pose a big health danger to dogs and children when accidentally ingested. Battery ingestions by dogs are common emergencies that we veterinarians often see. Due to the curious chewing nature of dogs, they often will get into these dangerous household products.

Many times, pet owners will come home to find the television remote control chewed on, only to find a punctured battery on the floor. Sometimes, the batteries may be missing. Unfortunately, if the battery is punctured, it can result in severe, life-threatening injury to the tissues of the mouth, esophagus, stomach and intestines.

As there are several types of batteries, it’s important to note the dangers between the different types of batteries. Most common household batteries are alkaline or acidic material batteries (e.g., 9-volt, D, C, AA, AAA), which are corrosive when punctured or leaking (e.g., when a dog’s tooth punctures the battery!). Alkaline dry cells (the majority of household batteries) contain potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide. When the compounds come in contact with tissue, liquefaction necrosis occurs, causing deeply penetrating ulcers. Other types include button/disc or lithium batteries.

In addition, newer types of “disc shaped” batteries can allow an electric current to pass to the tissues of the GI tract as the battery is passed. This can result in a current-induced necrosis, resulting in tissue damage or even perforation of the oropharynx, esophagus, stomach or small intestine. Check out this video created by Arizona Poison & Drug Information Center to show the “burn” dangers of disc shaped batteries here!

The most dangerous types of batteries? Lithium button type batteries. These are extremely dangerous to two-legged children and four-legged. Even one 3-volt battery can result in severe necrosis to the gastrointestinal tract or esophagus within 15-30 minutes of contact. There have been published reported cases of death in children from this due to the severe corrosive nature; this can occur when dogs ingest these batteries too.

Finally, certain batteries contain heavy metals (e.g., mercury, zinc, cobalt, lead, nickel or cadmium). Heavy metal toxicity can occur when ingested by dogs, but typically the battery has to say in the gastrointestinal tract for several days for this to occur.

With any type of battery ingestion, immediate veterinary attention is imperative. That’s because the more time that passes, the more corrosive burning occurs to the tissue. A key point to note is that you should not induce vomiting if your dog ingested a battery!

That’s because what’s corrosive going down the esophagus is corrosive coming back up, and you can cause worse damage if you induce vomiting with a corrosive product or poison!

Another key point? While ulcers can develop secondary to the corrosive chemical within batteries, these ulcers may not show up in the mouth for several hours. This is important because you can’t judge if your dog punctured a battery or not based on the presence (or lack of presence) of ulcers in the mouth. Just because ulcers aren’t immediately present after chewing a battery doesn’t mean that severe ulceration isn’t occurring lower in the gastrointestinal tract (e.g., esophagus, stomach, etc.)

If your dog got into a battery, the following should be performed:

• Offer something tasty to flush the corrosive substance out of the mouth and esophagus. I often recommend trying a small amount of chicken broth, chicken noodle soup, or even the water from a can of tuna (not oil!).
• Do NOT induce vomiting, and instead, get to your veterinarian immediately.
• Your veterinarian should do a thorough oral exam and physical exam. Again, note that oral ulcerations may not be present on physical examination for several hours, and the absence of oral ulcerations does not rule out severe underlying corrosive injury lower in the gastrointestinal tract.
• If a dry cell battery was punctured, sometimes the presence of black powdered material may be seen in the mouth. This raises the index of suspicion that a battery was definitely punctured.
• The mouth should be thoroughly flushed and lavaged for 15-20 minutes with tepid tap water. Your veterinarian should do this immediately after an exam is done.
• A lateral x-ray (including the esophagus and stomach) should be done to look for the presence of the battery. Thankfully, all batteries show up on x-ray due to the metal
• If the battery is seen on x-ray, the ideal treatment is prompt removal to prevent further corrosive injury. This should ideally be done by endoscopy (where we stick a camera down into the stomach under anesthesia and try to grab the battery out) or surgery.
• Again, with battery ingestions, we don’t recommend inducing vomiting, as corrosive injury may occur to the esophagus and oropharynx.
• Additional treatment includes anti-ulcer medication (including antacids and stomach protectants) for 5-7 days, a bland or high-fiber diet, and even pain medication if ulcers are present.

If you think your dog accidentally chewed into a battery, call your veterinarian, emergency veterinarian, or ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center immediately for life-saving care. Better yet – download ASPCA’s free app so you know how to keep your pets safe at home!

Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do at home to treat a battery ingestion. As battery ingestions can be life threatening, it’s really important that you not delay: get to a vet immediately for flushing, lavage, x-rays, and treatment!

As previously published on www.PetHealthNetwork.com.