In most cases, the disease is transmitted via a bite wound and it is mostly wildlife that gets infected. When wildlife starts coming into contact with the pet population, then pets become infected and when pets get infected, human infection is not far behind. Because this infection has nearly 100% mortality, preventing it in pets becomes crucial to preventing it in people. Of course, people can get infected by wildlife contact as well. Despite vaccination being readily available, every year the U.S. reports approximately 50 canine deaths, 250 feline deaths, and several human deaths from rabies. Worldwide, some 55,000 human deaths occur annually from rabies even now in the 21st century.

The most common wildlife species to spread rabies to domestic animals and humans in the Northern Hemisphere are skunks, bats, raccoons, foxes, and coyotes. Wildlife (especially bats) are able to gain access to indoor areas where they can come in close contact with both pets and people. Indoor pets are not without risk.

Many people do not realize how fast death occurs from rabies.

The virus in the infected animal’s saliva enters the victim’s tissues during the bite. The virus attaches to the local muscle cells for a couple of days before penetrating local nerves and beginning its slow ascent to the brain. Once within nervous tissue, the virus is not accessible to the immune system and may safely proceed toward the brain. The journey is slow and can take up to a year but the average time is three to eight weeks depending on the species. Virus ultimately reaches the brain and in two to three days more is evident in all body secretions, including saliva. At this point, the disease becomes transmissible and symptoms begin.

It can take up to a year from the time of the initial bite before symptoms begin to show. In dogs, typical incubation periods are 21-80 days. In cats, it’s 28-42 days. Once symptoms show, treatment is nearly impossible.

Prodromal Stage (The First 2-3 Days After Symptoms Have Started)

A change in personality is noted. Friendly animals become shy, etc. The larynx begins to spasm and a voice change may be noted (especially true in rabid cattle). Most infected animals will actively lick or scratch the site of the original bite.

Excitative Stage (Next 1-7 Days)

Classically, this would be the “mad dog” stage, though, in reality, most animals skip this phase altogether. The animal has no fear and suffers from hallucinations. If confined, the animal often attacks the bars of the cage.

Paralytic or Dumb Stage (Next 2-4 Days)

Weakness/paralysis sets in. The larynx is paralyzed, resulting in an inability to swallow, thus drooling and “foaming at the mouth” result. The animal dies when the intercostal muscles that control breathing are paralyzed. It is from animals in this stage where most human exposure occurs. There is no treatment for animals or humans once clinical signs appear.

When human exposure to the animal in question is involved, what happens depends on an assortment of criteria. If the animal in question is dead, its brain can be tested for rabies. There is no test for rabies in a living animal but since we know that death follows quickly after the virus becomes contagious, a living animal can be confined for 10 days. If the animal is still alive 10 days after biting a person, then the bite could not have transmitted rabies.

Prevention

For Our Pets

Happily, rabies prevention is accomplished with vaccination and limiting exposure to wildlife. The standard killed virus vaccines are available for both dogs and cats and, after the initial dose which is good for one year, subsequent doses are generally good for three years. Because tumors have developed in cats who received the killed virus vaccine, a recombinant product is now available that uses a portion of rabies viral DNA cloned into a harmless canarypox virus. This arrangement allows the pet to realize the benefits of live virus vaccination without any risk of exposure to the living rabies virus.

Rabies vaccination protocols are typically controlled by municipal regulations. Most communities legally require the vaccination of all dogs. The American Association of Feline Practitioners recommends rabies vaccination as a core vaccine for all pet cats.

For pets not current on rabies vaccination that have been exposed to biting wildlife, the Texas Post-Exposure Rabies Prophylaxis Protocol has been particularly helpful. In this situation, the pet should be vaccinated for rabies as soon as possible after the wildlife bite with booster vaccines given three weeks post-bite and eight weeks post-bite. The pet should be strictly isolated for 90 days. This protocol has been extremely successful in preventing rabies symptoms and contagion when normal rabies vaccination had lapsed. 

Treatment for Humans (Post Exposure Prophylaxis or PEP)

Every year a small number of people die of rabies in the U.S. Most of these people were bitten by a dog, bat, or some other animal and did nothing other than basic first aid. Recall that it takes many weeks for the rabies virus to reach the brain. This allows time for the vaccine to be given so that when the virus “comes out” of its neurologic hiding place and is ready to infect the brain, a substantial immunologic response is waiting. The virus is foiled and clinical rabies does not result.

If you are bitten by an animal and its rabies vaccination history is unknown, there are definite steps to take. A fresh bite wound should be washed out with water quickly as this may wash out viral particles. The time it takes for the virus to reach the brain depends on the amount of virus in addition to how close the wound is to the head. This simple step can be life-saving.

If the biting animal is alive, its vaccination status should be confirmed as soon as possible and it will need to be confined according to local law. The bite wound should be reported to the health department as soon as possible. Only rodent and rabbit bites are not reportable.

If the animal is dead then its brain can be tested for rabies. The head of the biting animal is submitted to the health department for fluorescent antibody testing for the rabies virus. This process takes a matter of hours so that any bite victims can know right away if they will require rabies treatment.

If the animal is not available or its vaccination status is in question, further treatment may be needed. Hyperimmune (antibody-rich) serum is flushed into the wound in hope of inactivating the virus before it may penetrate to the nerves. The patient receives a vaccination on a regular schedule for about a month, as described above.

Veterinarians have a rabies exposure risk of more than 300 times that of the general population. 

Anyone pursuing a career with animals should consider vaccination against rabies.

The purpose of the quarantine period is to determine if the rabies virus could have been in the animal’s saliva at the time of the bite. An animal infected with rabies and shedding virus will certainly be dead within ten days.

If the biting animal is known to have been exposed to wildlife, the situation is different. A vaccinated animal must be re-vaccinated within the time period required by local regulations and confined for observation for the specified duration. Unvaccinated animals may be confined for a specified time period according to local/regional law, or be euthanized and tested for rabies. In the U.S., all bites to humans that break the skin are reportable to local health departments. Rabies vaccination requirements vary from state to state, and country to country.  Contact your veterinarian if you think your pet has come into contact with or been bitten by a wild animal. Regardless of the vaccination status of your pet, wild animal bites may lead to painful wounds and infection.

Again, laws regarding biting dogs and rabies vaccination are highly regional. Check with your local animal regulation department, your veterinarian, or visit rabiesaware.org to find out what you need to know in the U.S..

Quarantines when Traveling

Great Britain, Hawaii, Japan, New Zealand, and several other island areas have successfully eradicated rabies from their territory. These places are EXTREMELY cautious about allowing in potential carriers of rabies. Because of the long incubation period of rabies, a very long quarantine is needed; however, this must be balanced by the expense associated with quarantine and owners’ reluctance to be separated from their pets. Most places that have eradicated rabies have protocols for avoiding or minimizing quarantine. Typically, a microchip is implanted in the pet for identification purposes, a rabies antibody titer (a measurement of vaccine-induced protection) must be performed at an approved laboratory, and rabies vaccine documentation is necessary.

For listings of what each state requires for entry, go to the USDA. 

For travel to another country check with that country’s consulate, but guidelines are also available at USDA.

Other Links

The CDC’s rabies home page has, in addition to basic information, a children’s education area that is particularly helpful for families who go camping.

The annual World Rabies Day calls attention to this problem to raise awareness and provides information about rabies in both humans and animals.

In Summary:

You can’t treat rabies once symptoms set in; all you can do is prevent it.

Rabies is a virus transmitted through saliva or brain tissue. Without rapid preventive treatment, it is almost always fatal. That’s why your pets are required to have rabies vaccines in many areas of the world.

The most common wildlife species to spread rabies to animals and people in the Northern Hemisphere are bats, skunks, raccoons, foxes, and coyotes. 

It is generally caused by a bite wound, and mostly wildlife gets infected.

Rabies affects a mammal’s central nervous system. It can take up to a year before symptoms begin to show, but the average time is 3-8 weeks depending on the species. In dogs, the typical incubation period is 21-80 days. In cats, it’s 28-42 days. Once symptoms begin, treatment is nearly impossible.

If you are bitten, you need a preventive injection immediately as it only works during the incubation period. Once even mild symptoms begin, death occurs within 10 days.

After symptoms have started:

•  First 2-3 days: a personality change is seen, and the larynx spasms, resulting in a voice change.
•  Next 1-7 days: this is the “mad dog” stage in which an animal has no fear and suffers from hallucinations, but many skip this stage.
•  Next 2-4 days: weakness and paralysis set in. The larynx becomes paralyzed so the animal cannot swallow, causing drooling and foaming at the mouth.
•  The animal dies when the muscles that control breathing finally become completely paralyzed. Most people get bitten in this stage.

Symptoms may not be obviously recognizable, making diagnosis difficult if not impossible. There is no diagnostic test for rabies in a living animal.

What happens after people are exposed depends on the situation. If the animal is dead, its head is sent to a laboratory so the brain tissue can be tested. In some circumstances/locations, a living animal can be quarantined for 10 days at the owner’s expense; if the animal is still alive, then the bite could not have transmitted rabies.

The vaccine protocols are typically controlled by municipal regulations. Most communities legally require all dogs to be vaccinated and recommend it for cats. Vaccination requirements vary from state to state, and country to country. 

Exposed pets not current on rabies vaccination should be given booster vaccines at 3 and 8 weeks post-bite. The pet should be strictly isolated for 90 days.

Exposed humans should wash the bite with water as it may wash out some virus particles; the time it takes for the virus to reach the brain depends on the amount of virus in addition to how close the wound is to the head.  This step could save a life.

Animal bites need to be reported to local health departments.

Veterinarians have a rabies exposure risk of more than 300 times that of the general population. Anyone in an animal-oriented job should consider preventive vaccination.

Conjunctivitis is inflammation of the conjunctiva, a tissue that makes up part of the eye and eyelid. In people, the conjunctiva is the white part. Conjunctivitis is common in cats and can be a result of infection or injury.

The two bacteria species best known to cause conjunctivitis in cats are Chlamydia felis and Mycoplasma spp.

An infection caused by Chlamydia may cause redness, discharge, and excessive tears. Bacterial conjunctivitis caused by Chlamydia is treated with antibiotics. All cats in a household may need to be treated, as some cats who have it do not show any symptoms.

Mycoplasma is a natural inhabitant of every cat’s eye, so infection happens when there is an overgrowth of that bacteria. Treatment for the Mycoplasma infection is similar to that of Chlamydia: antibiotics. The goal in treating Mycoplasma conjunctivitis is to reduce the overgrown number of bacteria back down to a normal level because it is impossible to eliminate them entirely.

Who gets bacterial conjunctivitis?

Both cats and dogs can get conjunctivitis caused by bacteria or viruses. Conjunctivitis is the most common cat eye disease, and most cats will develop the infection once in their life. All breeds can develop infection, and juvenile and young adults are more likely to get it.

Clinical Signs of Either Form

1. Red eyes
2. Eyelid redness
3. Eyelid swelling
4. Excessive blinking
5. Eye discharge
6. Eye crusting
7. Tearing
8. Squinting
9. Scratching the face to relieve irritation

 Diagnosis

A physical exam of the eye by your veterinarian is the first step, as this will rule out other causes of redness, such as trauma.  The easiest diagnosis is a cytology test, which means looking at scrapings of the irritated tissue under a microscope. If a lot of bacterial and inflammatory cells are seen, it is likely that the eye is infected. Checking scrapings is a quick test for infection that can be done at the clinic during your appointment. PCR is another test that can be used to detect the specific organism causing the infection, but typically needs to be sent out to a lab.

Treatment

Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial conjunctivitis, mainly doxycycline.  Mycoplasma and Chlamydia are the most common bacteria involved in eye infections, and doxycycline is effective against both.

Prognosis

Treatment should clear the signs and infection. However, if the eye still looks infected or just doesn’t look normal, contact your veterinarian. The ongoing bacterial infection may also be caused by an unknown factor that needs to be treated before the eye infection can be cured.

Prevention

There is a vaccine for Chlamydophila felis, but it is not required and is usually only suggested if your cat is at a higher risk for an infection or in a multi-cat household. There is no vaccine for a Mycoplasma spp. infection because it is normally in the eye anyway.

The key to preventing infection is separating sick cats away from the unaffected ones and bringing them to your veterinarian at the first sign of infection.

Pets Can Participate in Their Own Care Routines

Teaching pets to take part in care routines should be prioritized over modifying the pet’s behavior for other reasons, such as obedience training.

Modern zoos care for animals, which are often massive, without resorting to physical restraint. Imagine a giraffe voluntarily stepping onto a giant platform to get weighed. Picture a tiger presenting his tail through a small window of an enclosure to have a blood sample taken. For so many reasons, it is not effective to repeatedly dart and fully anesthetize these cherished animals every time healthcare is needed. Veterinary teams can implement these sophisticated but user–friendly techniques by prioritizing Low Stress Handling®.

This is an exciting time in veterinary medicine. Practitioners certified in Low Stress Handling® are joining forces with clients, board-certified veterinary behaviorists, and trainers who use positive reinforcement methods. The collaborative goal is to strengthen the human-animal bond by implementing these powerful cooperative care techniques for the benefit of clients and patients.

When Pets Say “No” To Care Routines

Cats and dogs sometimes growl or hiss when the veterinarian walks into the room, cower during examinations, or try to flee at the site of a nail trimmer. Fear can escalate to a point where the pet refuses to allow veterinary personnel to touch them. Pets can become so fearful, resistant, and defensively aggressive when visiting the veterinarian that the staff runs out of options to provide care to these patients. These pets may then need to be referred to board-certified veterinary behaviorists.

It is also common for pets to become frightened during home care routines. One painful or scary experience, such as exposure to a loud set of clippers, a cleaning of a painful, infected ear, or an accidental clip of a toenail to the quick can result in a pet developing lasting memories of that event. Each animal experiences handling, restraint, and care in different ways. Sensitivity levels vary among pets, with some being more prone to stress and anxiety than others. These pets that show avoidance or resistance during care routines at home, in grooming salons, or at animal hospitals are exhibiting signs of anxiety, fear, or both.

Low Stress Handling® veterinary practitioners will do everything they can to provide a pleasurable experience during veterinary care. Your pet’s veterinarian may prescribe short-term, anti-anxiety medications before scheduled appointments. They may also make environmental modifications, such as bringing your pet into the exam room by skipping the busy lobby. The veterinary team will treat pets in the exam room (rather than “the back”) whenever possible. Low Stress Handling® practitioners will make sure clients are included in the decisions being made about the pet’s care. When caregivers understand their pet’s emotional state, it helps everyone make better decisions together. It is imperative to slow down and realize that continuing a procedure with a fearful pet makes the patient less treatable in the future. Realizing when pets are anxious or frightened is half the battle.

Cooperative Care Teaches Pets to Say “Yes” to Care Routines

Core Concepts in Cooperative Care:

Emotional health status and medication use. Before teaching cooperative care routines, a veterinarian should evaluate a pet’s physical and emotional health. Some patients are simply too anxious to learn. Medications can be helpful in creating a comfortable starting point by relieving the pet’s anxiety enough to allow them to participate and receive food for counterconditioning.

Veterinarians may prescribe medications to reduce overall anxiety or situational medications intended for use before stressful events, and sometimes both. Using multiple medications can help to avoid the sedating effects that may come with a larger dose of a single medication. Additionally, many pets may require short-term anesthesia for veterinary care or grooming until they can be successfully retrained through cooperative care routines.

Body Language. Each species of animal communicates with their own unique body language. Interpreting what pets are communicating with their body language does not come naturally to most people. Your Low Stress Handling® Certified veterinary practitioner can guide you to the appropriate professional who can help you interpret your pet’s body language. These professionals include board-certified veterinary behaviorists (DACVB), board-certified veterinary technician specialists in behavior (VTS), and progressive positive reinforcement trainers who have a close association with the veterinary behavior community. Trainers who use any form of punishment or recommend prong or shock collars, choke chains, etc., should be avoided. These techniques break down the human-animal bond and potentially intensify fear and fear aggression.

Prevention. Resilience conditioning is defined as supporting an individual’s ability to recover from stress. If young pets display sensitivity to being touched, during routine handling, it is time for intervention and changing the approach to improve their ability to recuperate from stress. Support and agency are core concepts in both resilience conditioning and cooperative care.

Low Stress Handling® veterinary practitioners have a crucial responsibility to support each patient’s resilience for future care events. This is achieved by providing predictability, social support, and agency during veterinary care. For example, kittens might lick baby food off a lick mat during procedures, puppies can be trained to stand on a platform for treats while undergoing a gentle examination, and any non-essential treatments should be postponed if a patient shows signs of being overwhelmed. Each time cooperative care routines are practiced with puppies and kittens, they start to remember that veterinary visits are safe and predictable.

Veterinarians and veterinary technicians are integral in preserving the human-animal bond (HAB). This bond can deteriorate when clients struggle to care for pets at home or when veterinary professionals cannot effectively treat patients who have become fearful or dangerous. A simple yet effective preventive measure is to continuously feed a puppy or kitten throughout their veterinary experience. This approach helps these young pets develop resilience and reduces fear in care contexts.

By gradually introducing pets of all ages to home and veterinary care routines and by pairing those routines with high-value food and other pleasant experiences, pets find pleasure in care procedures. When pets remember these experiences as enjoyable, they want to do those activities again.

Important Tip: The frequency of treats during cooperative care is continuous at first, 10 to 15 per minute. The treats should be pea-sized and delicious.

Targeting and Stationing. Targeting and stationing are valuable techniques for training animals to participate willingly in their care. Targeting involves training an animal to direct a specific body part, or their entire body, toward a designated point or object. This method can be applied to various animals and for different purposes. For instance, a parrot may be trained to target their wing into a person’s palm for feather inspection or a dog can be taught to touch their nose against a wall and stand still for a short veterinary examination.

The practice of targeting behaviors paired with positive reinforcement (e.g., food) for each repetition helps to make targeting and the target object safe and predictable for the animal. For example, if a dog is taught to target the inside of a basket muzzle with their nose, the muzzle becomes a familiar and non-threatening object. This principle can be extended to a variety of grooming and veterinary tools.

Stationing is a technique closely related to targeting and is particularly useful in teaching animals to stay at a specific location for an extended period. This concept is highly effective in various settings and for different species. For instance, a horse can learn to station themselves in a particular spot for voluntary grooming and veterinary care, eliminating the need for restraints like cross ties. Similarly, a dog can be taught to stand on a yoga mat for home care routines, and this mat can then be brought to the veterinary clinic to provide a familiar and comforting environment. Cats can be trained to jump onto a pedestal to receive oral medication, making the process smoother and less stressful for the cat and the caregiver.

Choice, control, and consent. In traditional pet care or treatment methods, animals often have no say in the process, which can be confusing and frightening for them as they do not understand the intentions behind these actions. However, modern techniques in animal care are changing this dynamic. These techniques involve communicating intentions to the animals and teaching them to express “yes” or “no” to their care.

This approach of allowing pets, zoo animals, wildlife, and livestock to consent to or deny their own care has shown surprising results. Contrary to the assumption that when given a choice, pets would say “no” all the time, the opposite is often true. The more we acknowledge their “no” the more they begin to say “yes”. They begin to engage in their care routine.

Start Buttons. Start buttons are an innovative concept in animal husbandry and a key element in cooperative care routines, emphasizing the importance of animal consent and autonomy. By observing and reinforcing animals with food as they display natural and comfortable behaviors, these behaviors can be encouraged and, therefore, more frequently offered. The concept is to teach the animal to present these behaviors as a signal to initiate a care routine, effectively giving them a “start button” communicating that they are ready to start their care routine.

This method is being applied across various species. For instance, horses can be taught to nod their heads to communicate you can start brushing them. Dogs can be trained to rest their chin on a towel to indicate readiness for home care and to lift their chin as a signal of discomfort or the need to stop.

When a pet stops offering their start button behavior, they are withdrawing their active participation in the care routine, communicating a “no” or “I need a break.” The more a caregiver acknowledges when a pet says “no”, the more comfortable and less fearful or defensively aggressive the animal becomes in future care situations.

By empowering pets with the control to start and stop their own care routines at will, caregivers are providing their pets with autonomy. This practice not only improves the animal’s experience during care routines but also strengthens the trust and communication between the pet and their caregiver, enhancing the overall quality of care and the human-animal bond.

Bloat is a life-threatening condition in which the stomach fills with air (dilatation) and/or twists upon itself (volvulus). It’s also called GDV – gastric dilatation volvulus.

What to Do 

• Transport to a veterinary hospital or emergency facility immediately. In all cases, this condition requires professional assistance. Most cases will require surgery.

What NOT to Do

• Do not attempt to relieve the gas from the stomach.  
• Do not give anything by mouth.

It is imperative that this condition be recognized early. Your pet’s abdomen may not have a bloated appearance. Signs of bloat include:

• Drooling of saliva 
• Frequent retching and attempts to vomit (occasionally patients may be able to regurgitate a pool of foamy saliva) 
• Anxiety, restlessness, and pacing 
• Lethargy or agitation
• Depression and shock.

Much has been learned about bloat in the past decade. Decades ago, a diagnosis of bloat was almost always a death sentence because only 25 percent survived. Today the survival rate is better than 80 percent with surgery. Part of the reason for this is increased owner awareness. The earlier the veterinarian gets started with treatment and takes the pet to surgery (after stabilization for shock) the better chance there is for survival. Extremely aggressive medical and surgical intervention early in the course of the disease has the most dramatic impact on overall treatment success.

Prevention

Research into this area is ongoing and many studies have produced conflicting results. No one intervention has been shown to prevent GDV.  Elevated feeding may actually increase the risk of GDV in some patients.  Smaller kibble size, feeding smaller more frequent meals, and not breeding animals with a history of GDV in their lineage may potentially decrease the risk of GDV for the animal and future generations.

In breeds with a high risk of bloat, such as Great Danes, German Shepherd Dogs, and Akitas (as well as other deep chested dogs), a preventive surgery called a prophylactic gastropexy can often be performed when the dog is being spayed or neutered. This involves surgically attaching the stomach to the inside of the abdomen to prevent rotation and can sometimes be done through ‘minimally invasive surgery’ or laparoscopy. Ask your veterinarian for details and advice if you would like to discuss preventive surgery for bloat.

Dogs and cats can get more than just drunk when they drink ethanol, isopropanol, or methanol — they can get a trip to the emergency room. Pets can die from ingesting alcohol. 

What are ethanol, isopropanol, and methanol?

Isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol) is in rubbing alcohol (70%), some anti-freezes, some detergents, glass/window cleaners, perfumes/colognes, and alcohol-based topical sprays, including some pet flea-control and grooming products. Isopropyl alcohol is more than twice as potent as ethanol or methanol.

Methanol (methyl alcohol, wood alcohol) is most commonly found in automotive windshield washer fluids (20-80%) but is also in some gasoline additives, “canned heat” fuels (e.g., Sterno®), and some household solvents (e.g., paint removers).

Although the strength of these three alcohols varies, the clinical signs associated with their ingestion by dogs and cats are quite similar.

All poisoning problems boil down to the amount of alcohol ingested compared to weight, just like a dosage of medicine. Thus, when pets drink an alcoholic beverage that was left within reach or that was given to them intentionally by someone, it can cause a significant toxicity problem. In addition, significant absorption can occur through the skin or by inhalation.

Dogs are highly susceptible to the effects of alcohol. Signs of mild inebriation may occur with even minor exposure. Within 15 to 30 minutes after the pet has drunk the alcohol on an empty stomach (or within 1 to 2 hours on a full stomach), central nervous system (CNS) signs, such as staggering, excitement, or decreased reflexes, can begin. Behavioral changes can be seen, as can an increased need to urinate. As the problem gets worse, the pet may become depressed, have a slow respiratory rate, or go into cardiac arrest. Puppies and kittens are at particular risk because of their small size and immature organ systems. 

Alcohols are depressants, so many of the clinical signs associated with them are due to their effect on the CNS. Alcohols irritate the gastrointestinal tract. They also act as diuretics, and the alcohol and its metabolites are eliminated by the kidneys. Liver damage may occur after exposure, although it is much more common in animals that have repeated or chronic exposure. 

Clinical Signs

Clinical signs of intoxication can occur within 15-30 minutes of ingestion of alcohol. Signs include nausea, vomiting, thirst, urination, dehydration, lethargy, incoordination, disorientation, becoming cold (hypothermia), low blood pressure, and alcoholic bad breath. In severe cases, blindness, tremors, tetraplegia, respiratory depression, coma, or seizures may develop. Death is uncommon but may occur, especially if the pet has severe respiratory and cardiovascular depression, low blood pressure, and/or hypoglycemia. 

Diagnosis

Diagnosis is based on a history of exposure, combined with appropriate clinical signs and laboratory tests.  

Treatment/Management/Prevention

The treatments your veterinarian may use can include assisted ventilation, intravenous fluids (to improve elimination of the alcohol/metabolites, to provide cardiovascular support, and to correct electrolyte abnormalities), seizure control, and other supportive therapies. In addition, if the alcohol toxicosis is due to the ingestion of bread dough, your veterinarian may need to wash out your pet’s stomach with cold water to inhibit further alcohol production and to break up the dough mass for removal. In addition, your pet will be confined to prevent accidental self-injury.

Prognosis

Most dogs with alcohol intoxication can recover with adequate symptomatic and supportive care. Recovery may take 8-12 hours and tends to take longer if it was a severe intoxication or if isopropanol was involved.

Preventing Alcohol Toxicosis

All alcoholic beverages and alcohol-containing fluids should be kept out of reach of your dogs and cats. Consult your veterinarian before giving any ethanol-containing liquid medications.

Do not feed raw bread dough to your pets or leave bread dough out to rise in areas that can be reached by them. Always dispose of discarded bread dough carefully. 

The ASPCA National Animal Poison Control is available 24 hours a day at 888-426-4435. Expect an initial consultation fee of around $100.00 and additional follow-up is at no charge. You will be assigned a case number your veterinarian can use to communicate with a toxicology specialist before beginning treatment.