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Epidemiological features of snail and slug bait poisoning in dogs and cats
Author(s) -
STUDDERT V. P.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
australian veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1751-0813
pISSN - 0005-0423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-0813.1985.tb14249.x
Subject(s) - cats , case fatality rate , veterinary medicine , toxicology , medicine , snail , epidemiology , biology , ecology
SUMMARY: Snail and slug baits were the most common cause of poisoning in dogs and cats in a survey of 34 veterinary practices. During a 7‐month period, 280 dogs and 12 cats were poisoned by metaldehyde (57%) or methiocarb (43%) containing baits with case fatality rates of 8.1% and 9.1% in dogs and 16.7% and 50% in cats, respectively. The ages of poisoned dogs ranged from 2 months to 17 years and cats from 3 months to 5 years. There was no decrease in frequency of poisoning or case fatality rate demonstrated with increasing body size in dogs. Poisoning was most frequent in the month of October. Baits were eaten off the ground or obtained from storage areas, often despite a variety of preventive measures. It is suggested that these products should be reformulated to make them less attractive to domestic pets. Aust. vet. J. 62: 269–271