Pain serves a protective role that alerts an individual to injury from the environment or from within. For example, if a muscle strain or pull causes pain in a limb, not putting weight on that limb can help prevent further injury.
Immediate, life-saving measures may be needed initially. Beyond this, treatment consists of preventing further absorption of the poison, providing supportive treatment, and administering specific antidotes, if available.
Animals, just like people, feel pain when they are injured or sick. However, recognizing pain in animals can be difficult because animals do not act the same way that people do when they are in pain.
Diagnosis of poisoning is based on history, signs, tissue changes, and laboratory examinations. Giving your veterinarian a complete history is important to help him or her make an accurate diagnosis and begin appropriate treatment. You should have the following information available: 1) sex, age, weight, and number of exposed or sick
The consequences of poisoning can depend on more factors than the toxicity of the poison itself. The dose (amount of the compound per unit of body weight) of poison is a primary concern, but the exact amount of poison an animal has been exposed to is seldom known. The number of times the animal is exposed and the length of time over
Poisons can be absorbed via the digestive tract, skin, lungs, eyes, mucous membranes (such as those of the nose or eye), mammary glands, and uterus, as well as from sites of injection. Toxic effects may be local, or the poison can be absorbed and spread by way of the bloodstream. Some poisons are excreted by the kidneys. Others are e
Poisoning occurs when a toxic substance is swallowed, inhaled, or absorbed after coming in contact with the skin, eyes, or mucous membranes. Poisoning is also called toxicosis or intoxication. Because pets are unable to tell whether a substance is poisonous or no
As in acute pain, both drug and nondrug methods can be used to treat chronic pain. Some drugs that relieve acute pain are also used to treat chronic pain, such as opioids and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Depending on the situation, other drugs, such as an anti-anxiety or anti-convulsant drug, might be added to the treatment
Coal-tar poisoning is often caused by chewing on or eating items that contain coal tar. Typical sources are clay pigeons, tar paper, creosote-treated wood, and bitumen-based flooring. Effects include liver damage with signs of jaundice, fluid build-up within the
Most ethylene glycol poisonings are associated with ingestion of radiator antifreeze. All animals are susceptible, with dogs and cats being affected most often. Ethylene glycol poisoning is common because antifreeze is widely used, it has a sweet taste and small lethal dose