Rat infestation is one of the most hatred for humans. The situation demands taking urgent measures to eradicate the pesky mammals. Know more about rat poison: its types, the most popular products and warnings while using it.
Contents:
Overview of Rat Poison
Rats along with other rodents (mice, squirrels, moles, etc.) are useful in nature. But living near humans without control these mammals can be labeled as pests, because they damage crops, carry diseases, gnaw practically everything in the house, including electric cords. Specialists insist on using different methods to get rid of rats. Rat poison is usually bait, flavored with different attractive additives, such as sweets, fish, meat, and fruit or grains.
Active ingredients in rat poison differ due to the toxicity level and the amount. The most widespread ones are anticoagulants. They stop recycling special cells, which help avoid excessive bleeding. Consequently, a victim dies from losing of too much blood in the inner organs.
There are many types of rat poison
Scientists have to work out new poison types as rats have become resistant to some of them. The first anticoagulant against rats was invented in the middle of the XX century. It was warfarin and was found in moldy sweet clover, which caused to sickness of many cattle.
Among other active ingredients of rat poison are the following:
- It affects nervous system, causing paralysis.
- The targets are nerves, muscles when used in high levels of toxicity.
- Zinc phosphide insults brain, heart, liver and kidney, resulting in death.
- Strychnine affects the spinal cord, causing muscle spasms.
D-con Rat Poison
D-con rat poison is the most popular rodenticide in the United States. D-con contains anticoagulant, such as brodifacoum, which gets to blood through gastrointestinal tract and prevents blood from clotting. As a result, rat dies from blood losing.
It is a multi-dose poison and five days period is quite enough to rid the rats. They continue eating the bait; they don’t suspect any bad symptoms until getting the fatal dose.
D-con rat poison is produced in the pellets form that is easy to fill in a special feeder. There is also concealed rat bait, which is unreachable for pets and children.
D-con rat poison is the most popular rodenticide in the United States.
Neogen Rodenticide Havoc Mouse and Rat Killer
It provides with safety during rats’ elimination. The bait is packed into a container. The rat has to chew it through. This idea makes the bait absolutely safe for pets and little children.
The active ingredient is anticoagulant, which is effective after the first consuming. Neogen rodenticide Havoc Rat Bait is recommended to put in hard to reach places and corners of rats’ frequent visit.
The active ingredient is anticoagulant.
Tomcat Rat Killer
This poison works thanks to anticoagulants. The pellets are attractive for rats to gnaw and have their preferable food flavorings. At the same time, Tomcat Killer is disgusting for pets and kids. This will help to avoid interest to the pellets from children and domestic animals.
One dose will be enough for rats to die in four days. Toxic components easily hurt rats’ nerve cells. The poison is available in bait station form, safe to use in the house. Check the amount of poison in the station and fill it with new portions.
Toxic components easily hurt rats’ nerve cells.
Just One Bite Bait Chunks
It is highly effective against Norway rats and mice. The main ingredient is bromadiolone. Being an anticoagulant, it leads to death because of excessive internal blood losing. One dose is enough to contaminate rats and house mice in and near the house. The first effect is seen on the fourth or fifth day after the rodents start consuming the bait.
But very often rat learn to spot contaminated food and refuse to eat it. In this case use a trick. Place first non-toxic bait and wait for 5-7 days. Then replace it with the same poisonous bait.
One dose is enough to contaminate rats and house mice in and near the house.
How Rat Poison Affects Dogs? First Aid
Rodenticides are a group of pesticides, which kills all kinds of rodents. But they are lethally dangerous when eaten by any mammal, including humans.
Dogs’ intoxication with rodenticides is considered the most extensive problem with home pets. Any dog is a hunter by its nature and will always chase a rat, sometimes even eat it. No dog is immune against rat poison intoxication. It has a prolonged action as starts to perform not immediately, for rats are very clever animals. When they face to new food only one rat eats it. If it doesn’t die within some hours, other rats begin having a meal.
Active ingredients in the majority of rat poison work against vitamin K production, which helps blood to clot. In this case any wound may cause death from inner bleeding.
The danger for dogs results from eating either the poisonous bait or contaminated rodent. Moreover, ill rats are very weak and become easy victims for pets. Rodenticides of new generation are so powerful that consuming of one intoxicated mouse is enough to kill a big hound.
Rat poison can kill your dog, be careful.
Symptoms
The first symptoms are seen in 3-5 days after consuming the poison. They include short breathing, weakness and rapid fatigability, mucous membrane is pale, and there is also tachycardia, anorexia. Then the symptoms are followed by nose and rectal bleeding, urine and stool with blood, convulsion. After the symptoms the dog has little time – only 10-12 hours. Without first aid the pet dies.
First Aid
If your dog has eaten rat poison, immediately Bring her to the vet.
Is There Rat Poison Safe for Dogs?
There is no rat poison that will be absolutely safe for dogs or any other pets. Some manufacturers add Bitrix into the rat poison to make it taste bitter for humans, though attractive for rodents. But no one guarantees that your pet will avoid the temptation to play with the rodent, which previously ate the toxic bait. Even in this case the poison keeps danger.
Willing to protect the pets from the danger, never use rat toxic bait. Use snap traps in the attic and other places unreachable for other animals. Glued traps are also effective and quite safe. The disadvantage is in the necessity to wash your dog if it touches the sticky strips.
Take all necessary preventive steps against rodents’ entering the house. Very often if rats feel lack of food and water they go off.
If you are forced to use rat poison, or you know about the neighbors or shops nearby use rat poison watch your dog, keep it in your area and don’t allow it to chew everything it sees. Place toxic bait where pets cannot find of reach them. Be first to find all dead rats’ corps, collect them and dispose safely.
Always keep the package of the poison you apply against rats to show it to the vet in urgent cases when you aren’t be able to keep an eye on your pets.
Be careful, do not let the dog in contact with the poison.
Rat Poison Toxicity Symptoms in Humans. First Aid
Trying to fight with such pests as rats and mice, people sometimes become victims of their invention. Rat poison may lead to death in humans due to lack of vitamin K. If you perform rat eradication in your house, you’d better know about rat intoxication symptoms.
Rat intoxication in all mammals is insidious. There are no significant symptoms within two or three days. If you suspect rat poison intoxication in a child mind this and take immediate action to avoid the tragedy even if you think the kid feels quite well. Sometimes parents come just in time to delete rat poison from the child’s mouth. But for complete safety it is better to exclude the possibility of intoxication and take the kid into the hospital for thorough examination.
Symptoms of Intoxication in Humans
The main symptom is a headache, namely in its severe or splitting form. Very often headache isn’t localized and confused with a common migraine. It is important to highlight the idea that the heavier intoxication, the more severe the headache. Among the first symptoms are diarrhea with mucus and blood, heavy vomiting and anorexia.
Different breakdown in the work of acoustic and visual organs depends on the type and amount of taken toxin.
Headache is the main symptom of poisoning.
First Aid
First aid actions include calling an ambulance, drinking no less than 3 liters of water to start vomiting. After that it is highly important to stop poison from spreading through the organism by taking 3-4 tablets of charcoal.
How to Avoid Rat Poison Intoxication in People and Animals?
Every year thousands of animals suffer and die from chemical poison designed against rodents. Good pet owners ought to take great care to their animals to protect them from rat poison. When walking your pet shouldn’t grab anything, even if it is a delicious piece of mince or meat. As for dogs, they must be taught that there is no food outside the house. It also shouldn’t get food from strangers. Of course if a dog has eaten something in the street and got intoxication, the blame will be fully on its owner.
When at home protect your pet from all dangerous things.
There is no absolutely safe poison against rats. Place toxins in the spots, which are inaccessible for pets. Find and delete dead rats as they are still dangerous and what is more, left unnoticed somewhere under the house, it starts rotting, which causes horrible smell and attracts other unpleasant insects.
Put all your efforts to minimize the danger of rat poison intoxication in humans and pets, consult a specialist before starting rodent elimination. There are many other methods to get rid of rats; among them are physical (traps, ultrasonic devices) and biological ones.
