Vet In Harness's blog

As another firework season draws to a close, for now...

Those of you in the UK can't have failed to notice that it was Guy Faukes' Night recently, when we celebrate the fact 

Fireworks - not fun for everyone!

that a seventeenth century Catholic terrorist failed to blow up Parliament with several kegs of gunpowder, by burning him in effigy, setting fire to great piles of garden waste and permitting private individuals to play with explosives.

It's been a reasonably good year - none of my patients have been seriously physically injured, though several have gone missing.  In previous years I have had a labrador jump through a glazed patio door in his panic to escape from nearby fireworks.  Another literally climbed walls, pulling a radiator off it's fixings.  More commonly we see dogs and cats run away, often to return a few days later cold, wet, afraid and sometimes with significant injuries.  Some, sadly, do not return.

 

I really really cannot understand why, in this time of antisocial behaviour and anti-terror legislation, we haven't managed to ban the sale of explosive devices to unlicenced private individuals.  Fireworks are dangerous.  Used carelessly, in back gardens, in the hands of people with no appropriate training and without the recommended safety distances, they cause many injuries each year to adults and children.  Used maliciously, they cause fear, distress and injury to members of the public and the emergency services.  In the hands of professional pyrotechnics teams, at organised displays, they are an absolute joy.  I love fireworks.  But I see no reason whatsoever I should be allowed to deploy them in my garden!

 

Fear of fireworks in pets can be managed in a number of ways - dogs and cats with relatively mild anxiety can be helped by changes in their daily routine - taking them out for their last walk early, while it's still light, providing a safe indoor bolt-hole, keeping the TV or loud music on to muffle the sound of nearby explosions, and trying to behave as normally as possible, avoiding over-fussing or chastising worried animals.  Pharmaceutical approaches are available - pheromone diffusers are available for both dogs and cats and can be very helpful in some cases (and absolutely useless in others).  A new, non-sedative, anti-anxiety medication has come on the market this year which some of my clients have tried and been very impressed with.  Some dogs and cats do very well with the use of herbal remedies such as Skullcap and Valerian tablets, Valerian compound, or Rescue Remedy - but please please consult your vet before giving herbal medicines to your animals, just because they are 'natural' does not mean they are innocuous!  For the most seriously affected animals, who are at risk of injuring themselves or their owners, the use of sedatives is sadly unavoidable.

 

The most frightening sort of exposure to fireworks is a nearby explosion, overhead.  Exactly the sort that pets in built-up areas are exposed to when neighbours deploy (not necessarily particularly large or powerful) rockets in back gardens.  Be honest with yourself - I know there's a thrill to setting off backyard fireworks, but it's a pretty naff display compared to what you'll get at an organised display.  There are fantastic displays, often for charities, in just about every town and village in the country, so there are plenty of opportunities to get your firework fix.  Organised displays give the owners of anxious pets a chance to prepare and protect their pets for noise at a specified time, which is much easier than reacting to unexpected nearby explosions.  

 

So, next time you are tempted to buy fireworks, please think again, save yourself a few quid, and go to a wonderful organised display instead.  And if you have a pet who was stressed out by firework season, now is the time to contact your vet for advice - we seem to have fallen into a habit in this country of using fireworks for New Year over the past decade, so you have a month and a half to prepare your pet for the next round of pops and bangs.  Preparation is key, and starting a programme of noise desensitisation and behaviour modification now may well pay huge dividends come December 31st!

 

'B is for Barbiturates' - A to Z of Pet Poisons

 

Phenobarbital

Quick facts:

• Poison(s): Drugs of the barbiturate class.  This group of drugs is used in human and veterinary medicine for anaesthesia, sedation, the relief of anxiety and insomnia, and prevention of seizures (fits).  Barbiturates form part of some 'lethal injection' cocktails used by the US penal system, and are also used in veterinary medicine for humane euthanasia of patients.  Barbiturates have abuse potential.
• Species affected:  All species, dogs are most likely to suffer accidental poisoning.
• Toxic dose:  Depends on the drug, route of administration, and the patient.  Any accidental barbiturate ingestion or overdose in an animal or a human is potentially serious.
• Symptoms:  Barbiturates are sedatives. Initial symptoms include weakness and sleepiness.  Low blood pressure and reduced breathing rate will develop, and depending on dose, may be followed by unconsciousness, coma, and death.
• Action:  Contact your veterinary surgeon as soon as possible if you believe your pet may have been exposed to any barbiturate.  In general accidental ingestion of any prescription, non-prescription, or 'recreational' drug may be extremely dangerous, and you should seek advice as soon as possible if you believe your pet may have been exposed to them.  It will be helpful to your veterinary surgeon and to poison control / advice services if you have the name of the drug, strength, and quantity to hand, as well as knowing the weight of your pet.
• Treatment:  Will depend on the drug, the dose to which the pet has been exposed, and the severity of symptoms at the time of presentation.  There is no specific antidote to barbiturate poisoning / overdose and treatment is focused on supporting the patient while the drug is cleared by their body.  Treatment may include gastric lavage (stomach pumping), giving supplemental oxygen or artificial respiration if breathing is severely compromised, intravenous fluids to support the circulation, and drugs to encourage the heart to beat more strongly.  Despite intensive management, if a sufficiently large dose of drug has been absorbed, barbiturate overdose is commonly fatal.

Barbiturates have become less commonly prescribed in human medicine over the past few decades because of the potential for abuse, and the very narrow margin between the dose required for a 'high' and that which will induce a fatal coma.  Safer drugs are now available for the treatment of anxiety and insomnia.  Barbiturates remain in quite common use in veterinary medicine.  Sodium thiopental is a general anaesthetic agent, though this is less used now than a couple of decades ago.  Pentobarbital is the drug commonly used in the UK for humane euthanasia of veterinary patients.  Phenobarbital (trade names include 'Epiphen') given in tablet form is used to prevent seizures (fits) in epileptic dogs.      

 

Accidental overdosing with medications prescribed for epileptic patients, or dogs deciding to 'scavenge' medications belonging to owners or members of their households are the common routes of exposure.  Rarer, but something which is seen occasionally, is barbiturate overdose in dogs or cats caused by them scavenging and eating remains of animals who had been 'put to sleep' with a barbiturate injection.  Please think carefully about where and how you bury pets' remains, particularly after euthanasia, and consider arranging for cremation if there is nowhere safe or appropriate in your garden to lay your pet to rest.

Next Time - C is for Chocolate -- A to Z of Pet Poisons - Index