Dog ate fish food! Should I worry?

    • Gold Top Dog

    Dog ate fish food! Should I worry?

    Our three year old Shiba/Husky mix decided she was hungry while we were out today. She got into my grandson's room and helped herself to an entire container of fish food. She's been sick since then. She's vomited a number of times and is generally quiet. She doesn't seem to be in distress, but is definintely not feeling well. I can handle an upset stomach, I'm just a little worried. Should I worry that she ate the fish food? Is it something that could be serious?
     
    • Gold Top Dog
    What kind of fish food was it?  goldfish food?  bloodworms? 
     
    I'd read the package to see what was in it -- probably pretty rich but I'd doubt it would be toxic. 
     
    But did she eat the packaging?  Could there have been anything ELSE the dog ate?  (stray socks, etc. that may not have been missed or had 'leftovers' or packaging that was found)  Dogs can be SO handy at snarfing up stuff that 'smells good' and in that situation you have to assume other things could have been pilfered.
     
    Watch particularly to make sure that the dog is peeing/pooping and eating ok over the next 24 hours.  Of course if the dog still seems sick in the morning I wouldn't wait -- I'd go to the vet.  An obstruction will begin to be obvious by then and finding it before big inflammation sets in can be really helpful if it's something dire.
    • Gold Top Dog
    It was just regular tropical fish food flakes. Tetra, I think. My husband threw out the package. She chewed on the packaging until the lid came off. There were no pieces of the container missing. It was the only thing she got into as far as we can tell. I think it was just smelly enough to be interesting to her. She's still throwing up but seems a little more lively. I'll see how she's doing in the morning and will definitely call the vet if she's still sick.
    • Gold Top Dog
    I'd encourage lots of water -- typically fish food is yummy stuff like insect larvae, etc (which is what they eat -- plus plant matter) so I'd probably encourage her to drink lots of water and get rid of whatever she can.  Also -- in honesty -- given that this wasn't something ok for dogs, I'd get this dog a fecal in a week or so -- just to be on the safe side.  It could cause a really nasty nasty gut bacteria.
    • Gold Top Dog
    A friend of mine had a dog who ate pretty much an entire canister of flake food . . . . . the dog was extremely thirsty for a few days but otherwise just fine.
    • Gold Top Dog
    We've lost multiple cannisters of fish food to our dogs. Usually Maggie, who has an iron stomach, so I can't really gauge by her reaction! But she never had a problem with it. It's just usually shrimp, fish meal, wheat flour, corn gluten meal, soy flour or meal, and vitamins, etc.
    • Gold Top Dog
    An update: Nikki is perfectly fine today. We woke up and she was just as bright and cheerful as she could be! I realized this morning that the fudge my DH put in my stocking has gone missing. It is nowhere to be found. There was 1/2 lb. of peanut butter and 1/2 lb. of chocolate. Nikki loves peanut butter. I'm thinking that maybe her upset tummy wasn't caused by the fish food after all! 
     
    Thank you everyone for your help. I did feel better knowing that the fish food wouldn't hurt her! The only thing that mystifies me is that I haven't found the packaging anywhere. I hope she didn't eat the plastic bag! We'll just have to keep an eye on her for a little while--just to make sure everything comes out o.k. 
    • Gold Top Dog
    I'm happy Nikki is OK! I know we've lost a LOT of fish food over the years. We couldn't figure out how the dog was getting it when we put it out of his reach. Then one day we discovered the cat getting the fish food out of the basket then dropping it to the floor. Then the lid would pop off and they'd both munch away.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Glad she's ok, but it seems as though you guys are gonna have to be way more careful what you leave at nose level! [:D]
    • Gold Top Dog
    I can't tell you how many time my dog has devourered my fish food!

    I was paniced also, and called Poison Control! Hahaha

    I looked at the ingredients, and realized how bland it is. It's harlmess. There aren't any chemicals in it that are poisonous to other species.

    It's dechlorinator you need to worry about! [:o] Silly Dulce...