Snail Pellet Poisoning
SNAIL PELLET POISONING CAN BE FATAL AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS AN ANIMAL EMERGENCY.
Most snail pellets contain one of two compounds; Metaldehyde or Carbamate, that kills snails and slugs by affecting the nervous system. Unfortunately, these same compounds affect the nervous system of mammals in the same way. Dogs and cats are the animals at risk as they tend to spend a lot of their time wandering and searching around the garden. In most cases the snail pellets are a brilliant blue or green colour and these colours appear to be very attractive to ours pets.
Clinical Signs
Snail pellets can take effect very rapidly depending on the quantity ingested by the animal. These signs will occur anywhere from 20 minutes to a couple of hours after ingestion. The first sign usually noticed is salivating or excessive drooling. This is soon followed by muscle twitching and tremors. Sometimes diarrhoea will also be present. All these signs are eventually followed by uncontrollable fitting and death.
Treatment
The sooner you can get your pet to a veterinary hospital, then more chance there is of saving them. The poisoning is usually treated by inducing the animal to vomit so no more poison is absorbed into the system, followed by fluid therapy and very close monitoring. These are emergency cases and intensive care is required.
Prevention:
The best prevention is not to use snail pellets around the garden or where animals can get at pellets. If you must use snail pellets, then there are ways of minimizing the risk. For example, the pellets can be placed in long heavy pipes that only the snails can access which can be buried in the ground with only the ends protruding.
Pet Friendly Snail Pellets:
Recently, a new product labelled “Pet Friendly” has been released. These pellets usually contain Iron EDTA and are supposedly “less attractive” to pets. Whilst this compound is less life threatening, if swallowed, it may cause severe gastrointestinal ulceration and discomfort to your dog. The result may be even worse or more permanent than the other types of snail pellets. While they may be less attractive, many pets may still eat them, resulting in signs of poisoning. We do not recommend the use of “Pet Friendly” snail pellets.