WARNING for dog owners - Vitamin D: I've just... - Thyroid UK

Thyroid UK

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WARNING for dog owners - Vitamin D

14 Replies

I've just started taking Vitamin D3 high doses, and I know many on here will be on them. PLEASE KEEP THESE OUT OF REACH OF PETS!!! My Standard Poodle consumed about 45 x 5000IU capsules which my vet said would have been fatal or caused severe damage if I hadn't got him there so fast. They induced vomiting and fed him charcoal, fortunately he must have eaten them on waking and they were removed from his stomach before absorbing into the bloodstream, but had he got them at bedtime it would have been too late. D3 or Cholecalciferol is a rat poison and highly toxic to dogs & cats, there is no antidote. It causes high potassium & calcium levels resulting in kidney damage, and usually death. The poison takes 1 to 2 days for signs to appear, by then it's too late. I wouldn't want anyone to go through what I did last week, 4 blood tests have given my boy the all clear thankfully.

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14 Replies
Clutter profile image
Clutter

Thanks for posting, Haze1234.

I'm very glad your dog has recoverered and he's well.

Ellie-Louise profile image
Ellie-Louise

Thank heavens you noticed what had happened to your poodle. I’m so glad he is safe now. I didn’t know D3 was a rat poison, how did you discover that?

Give your boy a big X from my cats.

in reply to Ellie-Louise

Thank you Ellie-Louise, and thank God for Google!!!! My Standard and toy Poodle sleep in the kitchen-diner and I came down and luckily saw the yellow top off the vitamin D bottle by his bed, it was a plastic tub he'd chewed through, I think these should be in glass! I didn't know it's dangers to dogs or I'd have made sure it was in the cupboard but checked on Google and realised it was the main constituent in rat poison! As the side effects of the kidney and organ damage don't show for a day or two had I not realised until he was actually ill it would have proved fatal :-( On looking at the empty pot the vet said I need to be prepared for a bad outcome, but when they got him to vomit it looked like the capsules were still in his stomach as a mush. He had 4 blood tests over 3 days, checking the calcium levels, and thankfully they were normal showing he hadn't had time to digest the vitamin D, as I said had he eaten them when I went to bed rather than early morning it would likely have been too late! I thought I knew all common dog toxins, which include chocolate, and xylitol the sugar free ingredient in many products including chewing gum which has also killed small dogs eating it! I had no idea about vitamin D so trying to spread the word, especially as it's being prescribed and nearly always low for Hasimoto's sufferers

in reply to

Hi Haze, Happy your "children" are fine. Take care. irina1975

Ellie-Louise profile image
Ellie-Louise in reply to

If you are on fb., make a public post, plus post on all the animal websites.

Ellie-Louise profile image
Ellie-Louise in reply to

Would you mind if I copied some of your post onto my own FB wall, it might help you spread the word. x

in reply to Ellie-Louise

Of course not! Please spread the word, no one I’ve spoken to yet, including dog trainers and owners were aware of the dangers of vitamin D yet most know about chocolate xylitol etc My ex husband said he wouldn’t even have considered checking to find out whether it was toxic as you’d expect a supplement to be safe, and that’s the big problem because by the time the pet shows signs of illness it’s in their blood stream and nothing much can be done

Ellie-Louise profile image
Ellie-Louise in reply to

Done, and I have asked for it to be shared too. :)

Thank God you got your 🐕 to the vets so quickly.

Hay2016 profile image
Hay2016

Thanks Haze1234. My springers a mare with stealing things. Will keep vit D far away. I too had no idea.

Glad your dog is OK.

Hayley

That must have been so frightening for you. So glad your pet is ok now. Thank you for posting.

Thanks for everyone for all the good wishes from Neo 🐩🐾 and big thanks to Google from me !!!!

hlahore profile image
hlahore

Back in 1932 scientists tried killing dogs with large doses of vitamin D

Half of the dogs got a lethal dose (LD-50) at 88 mg/kg

For a dog weighing 5 kg this would be 17 million IU

The dog getting 43 of the 50,000 IU vitamin D would have gotten 2.5 million IU

which is 15% of the lethal dose

Note: if the dog had consumed 5,000 IU and not 50,000 IU it would have gotten

1.5% of the lethal dose

Reference: vitamindwiki.com/tiki-index...

in reply to hlahore

Both these veterinary sites agree doses of D3 at rates as low as 0.1 mg/per kg body weight will show signs of vitamin D poisoning.

wagwalking.com/condition/vi...

pethealthnetwork.com/dog-he...

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