The intruders in the attic who pose risk to our dogs

IT WAS when I was putting the Christmas decorations back in the loft for another year that I noticed we had intruders.

I couldn’t actually see them, of course, but I knew they were hiding there nevertheless.

For a start, the insulation on the water pipes had been nibbled away, leaving a wee pile of grey foam bits.

There were droppings too; small, black, shrivelled things, like miniscule dehydrated dates.

And they had got to a cardboard box as well, leaving a gaping hole.

Being unarmed and defenceless, I retreated to the relative safety of the sitting room and formulated a plan. But it had to be a safe one.

The ingestion of commercial anti-coagulant rodenticides (which are usually coloured blue or green, and are commonly called mouse or rat bait) is not unusual in dogs.

They work, in all species that encounter them, by inhibiting enzymes that are involved in vitamin K production.

As vitamin K is depleted in the body (this takes a few days), so clotting factors II (prothrombin), VII, IX and X are reduced and bleeding becomes likely.

Clinical signs of poisoning generally don’t occur until at least three to five days after continuous ingestion of small quantities, or a single consumption of a larger dose, so owners are often lulled into thinking all is well.

Signs include lethargy, weakness, pale mucous membranes, anorexia and a cough, and it is important to appreciate that bleeding is not always external.

Haemorrhage into the lungs can cause nose bleeds and breathlessness.

Lameness can be seen with bleeding into the joints, and black stools and abdominal pain can be experienced with intestinal involvement.

Bleeding from the gums is common.

There are a number of different compounds used in these products and their concentration, and their ability to cause bleeding, varies greatly, with the lethal dose ranging from 0.075mg/ kg to 100mg/kg. (So always keep the packaging if poisoning is a concern.)

While repeated ingestion of low doses of bait can be dangerous, many owners worry about the consumption of the occasional, dead, baited mouse but this poses a low risk.

So what was I to do? The ladies of the house are most disconcerted by the sound of the scurrying about but don’t like the idea of poison for lots of reasons, not least the risk of dead mice to our dog and local raptors, who might come across them.

But then there is the worry of electric cables being compromised on top of the other damage they cause.