what do I do? my puppy has eaten a rat

[stella123]

late last night i let Ruby out in the garden so she wouldn't have to hold her toliet all night, and when i came to let her in, she was sitting y my back doors with a rat in her mouth!! i got it out her mouth so she didn't eat the thing whole....but it didn't have a head! she'd just chewed it alot so anyway.....i was wondering should i take her to the vet? im scared to touch her now. any suggestions?


(in case you think my house/garden is dirty, its not, in fact i have a beautiful garden and a very clean house, but here in london there 2 rats to every person!! i've never seen a rat since last night )

[poohbearsmom]

As long as the rat has not been poisoned, I'd suggest not kissing your pup for a few days. A nice bath would be helpful.

A pat on the head for bringing home such a nice supper would be in order as well.

At least you didn't have squirrel guts smeared all over your living room.

Rats in the 'hood do not mean that your garden/house is unkempt. They thrive anywhere there is an available food source.

[BostonRott]

Yep, agreed. ANd if the rat had had typical "rat poison," blood would have been POURING out of it, as "rat poison" is simply coumadin (commonly used anticoagulant). Therefore, I wouldn't worry much at all.

[RoXy123]

lol puppys....*sigh*......

[MARYDVM]

All natural diet - bones and raw food (BARF) you know.

[stella123]

i was just worried because i thought rats carried disease

[denverday]

A dog that I used to have was a good mouser too ....The vet told me to make sure she was UTD on her rabies and not let it lapse...(used to kill flying squirels and partige too)...If she is UTD I wouldn't worry too much...just watch for signs of infection....otherwise a good bath and more supervison outside is all I can suggest. Good luck

[Burnsway]

Originally Posted by poohbearsmom

Rats in the 'hood do not mean that your garden/house is unkempt. They thrive anywhere there is an available food source.

AMEN TO THAT!!!!!!!

I am a pretty clean neat person living in a pretty nice area and I have field mice and rats everywhere outside. They come from the lake after my bird seeds and it gets worse in the winter as they look for warmth. I have been lucky enough to keep them out of the house itself.

Psyche has not only been caught eating a rat she got bit by one not too long ago when she caught it outback.

stella123,

As weird as it sounds rats carry very little dangerous germs or disease. If you do a search on the net you will find article after article that there isn't one case in America of rats and rabies and the plaque is pretty darn rare. In a very small %....VERY SMALL they can carry something called RBF (rat bite fever) and even in those very few cases the symptoms can be seen and human/dog can be treated pretty easily.

I was shocked to find out that in the ER many times they just wash the bite area and send the person home....

As far as eating the rat as already noted, I think you (I mean the dog.....lol)are pretty safe unless the rat was previously poisoned.


Edited to say I see you are from London. I'm not sure if of the disease there but I bet you can do a quick search to see if there are any cases of rabies from rats and other disease but I bet your still pretty safe......

[fbkeays]

It isn't the rats themselves that have diseases, but what is ON the rat, ie fleas that carrie the diseases. So I guess it is correct to say that rats "carry" diseases
We have gophers. Cipher has been trying to get to a certain area of her yard for the past day or so. I have always been able to call her back. Well, this morning hubby asked me to look at her chin. It was scrapped up. He asked me if it looked like bite marks- I was thinking a scrap with one of the other dogs. No, too small.
He said that when he let her in this morning after letting her out, that she had something in her mouth that she was crunching up- crunching! We don't have anything in the yard that can be crunched. He was figuring that she and the gopher got into it and the gopher lost.
Good Girl!

[StephanieandToby]

Be glad your puppy was kind enought to try eat the rat. My friend's cat (Gunther) leaves the carcasses on the radiator...so when they turn the heat on in the house it cooks the rat. ..Acck.

I think that unless the rat was dead already from eating poison, you have very little to worry about...most wild canines live almost exclusively on rats and mice.

[Anne]

I believe there is a disease called rat lung worm too. I don't know much about it but a search on the net will probably bring it up. I think that the dog would have to devour the whole rat though to get the lung worm.

Rats terrify me.