It’s not difficult to overlook the safety of your pets when utilizing various pesticide products in and around the home.
Both dogs and cats are inquisitive creatures and they use their noses whenever exploring outdoors. Their noses are moist, and covered with a mucous membrane. As such, it’s an ideal place for a pesticide to be inhaled and absorbed.
A further cause for concern is the consumption of contaminated plant materials. Cats in particular are specialist carnivores and the
y are devoid of various enzymes within their liver that work to detoxify chemicals. Thus, they can be particularly susceptible to the effects of a toxic pesticide.
You may not have given any consideration to the dangers posed by secondary poisoning to your pets. Dogs and cats are more than capable of consuming insects, rodents, and a variety of other animals that may have ingested a pesticide. Any symptoms associated with secondary poisoning might not be witnessed for weeks, so it is essential that you are constantly aware of your pets and be mindful as to what it is they are consuming.
As a way of mitigating the necessity to monitor pets closely, you may prefer to use fully natural products that are not harmful to animals. If you were to spray toxic pesticides on your lawn or inside your home, there’s every chance that a dog or cat will absorb the constituents in one way or another.
For example, dogs and cats have a habit of licking their fur, and after exposure to a harmful chemical, the opportunity to ingest it is far greater than otherwise. And ultimately, this also has an impact on your health, too.
Small doses of contamination can take months and even years to build up within our pets, and also ourselves. Nevertheless, no time is too late to begin using pest control products of an organic nature.
The implementation of an integrated pest management program will serve as an insurance that your own pets will be devoid of pesticide toxicity exposure on their bodies, which in turn can adversely impact their liver, kidneys, lymph nodes, and parts of their central nervous systems.
And do be aware that monthly tick and flea treatments in the form of spot drops which are applied to the rear of the neck are in fact toxic pesticides.
Though pesticides will have varying impacts on your pets, if in any way you suspect that they may have succumbed to pesticide poisoning and they are displaying any of the following symptoms related to the absorption of pesticides, get in touch with your veterinarian with immediate effect.
- Fever
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Increased heart rate
- Seizures
- Lack of concentration
- Hyper-salvation
- Respiratory failure
- Constricted pupils
- Becoming agitated after making an application of monthly tick and flea treatment
Alternatives for safer insecticides
Here, we provide a list of insecticides that pose no health issues to pets, providing they are used as per the directions.
- Acetamiprid
- Lufenuron
- Imidacloprid
- Pyriproxyfen
- Spinosad
- Nitenpyram
- S-Methoprene
Follow the directions for use
Even when you have identified which pesticides can be used safely around pets, it’s still extremely important to abide by the directions for safe use. Overdosing even with a safer pesticide can still cause poisoning. So, be sure to read the fine print very carefully, and don’t be tempted to mix any pesticides together.
- Avoid the use of pelleted pesticides as they can be mistaken for food.
- Do not mix a pesticide with an organic fertilizer.
- Store pesticides under lock and key.
Take precautions
If your pet is outside, it can be more difficult to afford them protection from dangerous pesticides. A neighbor’s pesticides can drift into your garden and impact your pets. In which case, discuss this with your neighbor and find out what they use.
If you do suspect that either your dog or cat has succumbed to pesticide poisoning, get in touch with your veterinarian as soon as possible. And while you’re at it, aim to gather as much appropriate information as you can:
- What caused the poisoning, or what may have caused it?
- How much of the chemical was ingested?
- How was your pet exposed?
If you are able, bring the pesticide’s packaging. If your dog or cat has vomited, collect a small sample so it too can be analyzed.