My dog just ate fertilizer – is it poisonous? | Dr. Justine Lee

Posted by justinelee in Animal Safety, Blog, Pet Health

Did your dog just eat fertilizer? Did your dog just eat cocoa mulch?

Getting ready to work in the garden this summer? Before you do so, make sure you know about potential garden dangers that can poison your dog. When in doubt, keep your pets inside while working with some of these common garden or yard dangers.

Fertilizers
During the spring and fall of the year, homeowners often use fertilizers to spruce up their lawn. Fertilizers come in several types: granules or water-based products (that are directly sprayed on to the lawn). Fertilizers look scary – they often are applied by lawn services with warning signs starting that children and pets should be kept off the grass for at least 72 hours. In actuality, fertilizers are generally pretty benign – in fact, they typically have a wide margin of safety, depending on what type of product is used. Most lawn fertilizers contain natural elements (such as nitrogen, potash and phosphorous); there are often represented in numbers such as 10:0:40. Thankfully, these elements are generally non-toxic. Fertilizers may also contain insecticides (i.e., killing grubs, snails, etc.), and generally just result in mild gastrointestinal signs (e.g., drooling, vomiting, diarrhea, etc.) when ingested directly from the bag.

If your dog eats some grass that had fertilizer applied to it, it rarely leads to serious poisoning; that said, more serious signs can be seen when the product is directly ingested (e.g., directly out of the bag). If ingested directly out of the bag, it can result in more serious problems like tremors and seizures. To avoid poisoning risk to your pet, follow the labeled instructions carefully and keep your pets inside while you apply these products to the lawn. To be safe, keep your pets off the lawn until the product is absorbed by the soil (e.g., when the product dries if it’s a spray-on product, or after it rains if it is a pelleted product). When appropriately applied or diluted, these chemicals typically wash into the soil after rainfall, resulting in low-risk to patients. The most important thing: Make sure it’s not a fertilizer that has more dangerous products in it – some may contain iron, which can result in iron poisoning, and less common types may contain very dangerous insecticides such as carbamates or organophosphates. Thankfully, the EPA has limited the availability of these latter, more dangerous types of products. Carbamates and organophosphates can result in more serious, life-threatening clinical signs such as:

• Drooling
• Vomiting
• Severe lethargy/collapse
• Diarrhea
• Excessive tearing
• Urination
• Abnormal heart rates
• Difficulty breathing (due to bronchoconstriction)
• Tremors
• Seizures
• Death

Again, these more dangerous types are rarely seen on the market nowadays, but when in doubt, make sure to keep the garage door locked and these fertilizers out of reach!

Organic fertilizers (e.g., meals)
Surprisingly, the more dangerous types of fertilizers are organic fertilizers. Most pet owners want to use “safer” products around their pets, so often reach for something organic. Organic fertilizers are typically “natural” fertilizers that are leftover byproducts from the meatpacking or farming industry. Examples include:

• Bone meal
• Blood meal
• Feather meal
• Fish meal

These organic “meals” are widely utilized as soil amendment products, fertilizer components, or as deer, rabbit and wildlife repellants. These products are often highly palatable to dogs, as they smell gross (but good to dogs!); this may result in a massive ingestion (e.g., dogs ingesting several pounds of bone meal directly out of the bag). Another danger? Gardeners often mix organic fertilizers with other more dangerous fertilizers or chemicals (e.g., organophosphates or carbamates found in some older types of rose fertilizers; spring bulbs; etc.), resulting in dual poisoning with another product. When meals are ingested, they can result in gastrointestinal irritation (e.g., vomiting, diarrhea, etc.), foreign body obstruction (from all the bone meal congealing into a large bowling ball-like concretion), or even severe pancreatitis (e.g., inflammation of the pancreas). Treatment includes a thorough examination at your veterinarian, inducing vomiting, x-rays (to see if the material has passed out of the stomach or not), fluid therapy, anti-vomiting medication, and a bland diet. Rarely, with massive ingestions, “pumping the stomach” (e.g., gastric lavage) may be necessary to get the product out of the stomach. Thankfully, most dogs do well with prompt treatment and supportive care.

Mulch
If you’re about to mulch your yard, pay heed! Most types of mulch are benign, but can result in a foreign body if your dog ingests it. Mulch is typically shredded tree bark, but can also come in different forms (e.g., compost or decaying matter; cocoa mulch; etc.). Cocoa mulch (which is made up from shells or hulls from the cocoa bean) is often used from home landscaping; it’s very fragrant when first placed in the yard, and smells faintly of chocolate. As a result, dogs may be tempted to ingest it. While many Internet sites discuss the dangers of cocoa mulch, it’s relatively rare for dogs to be poisoned by it. That said, there is still a small amount of theobromine (the chemical that results in chocolate poisoning) remaining in the mulch, and when ingested in large amounts, can cause signs of chocolate poisoning.

Signs of cocoa mulch poisoning include:
• Not eating
• Drooling/hypersalivating
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Anxiety
• Hyperactivity
• A racing heart rate
• Constant panting
• Dark red gums
• Tremors
• Seizures

The severity of clinical signs from chocolate poisoning will depend on how much cocoa mulch is ingested; in general, one or two licks or bites will not cause a problem. Regardless, make sure to keep your dog out of reach of the mulch for the first few weeks. With sun, heat, and rain exposure, the likelihood of poisoning diminishes with time as the smell of chocolate rapidly dissipates.

Conclusion
If you suspect that your dog may have been exposed to something poisonous, contact your veterinarian or emergency veterinarian immediately. When in doubt, call ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 for 24/7 life-saving care. They may be able to instruct you on how to induce vomiting and whether or not there is a poisoning risk or not. Most importantly, keep your dog safe this summer by keeping these garden and yard poisons out of reach! Lock your garage, keep your dog on a leash or supervised when outside, and make sure to store lawn and garden products in secure containers out of reach!

As previously published on www.PetHealthNetwork.com.