How worried should I be if my puppy ate part of leaf sprayed by RoundUp?

April 22, 2013 11:43 AM

I have a 5 month old lab mix, about 22 lbs. Yesterday I sprayed some weed on our porch with RoundUp, and my SO went through and weedeated afterward, but failed to sweep remanents of weeds that were scattered out all crime scene like. This morning took puppy out for walk and he IMMEDIATELY grabs something off the porch and eats it. All of the pieces scattered were probably smaller than a thumb print, but he swallowed it before I could get to him.

We are short at work today and I cannot leave to go check up on him, but I am getting increasingly paranoid as the day goes on. My dad should be home to check on him within the hour, but I am making myself sick with worry that he is going to be sick. RoundUp is pretty vague about the dangers and I can only really gather that it is "safe" after dried. Does anyone have any experience with this at all? What are the chances it will make him sick? If it does do I need to take him into the vet or will it pass, as long as I make sure to keep him hydrated? I only sprayed that area because it is a place that in my mind the dogs don't go, but clearly I had overlooked that issue. I will not be using RoundUp again after this scare, will be using only entirely pet safe non toxic products. But what to do now?

posted by Quincy to Pets & Animals (12 answers total)

roundup deactivates pretty quickly in the open air, and even faster when moist. That is actually part of its widespread appeal. The stuff sold for private homeowner use is pretty dilute also to make accidental ingestion pretty safe (for exactly this reason). If the dog was ingesting some everyday for a long time it would be a problem but the tiny amount it ate isn't (most likely) going to harm it. I would wait and see and if the dog starts vomiting or just acting down (and Lab puppies aren't good at being down so it should show) then be concerned but probably nothing to worry about.
posted by bartonlong at 11:48 AM on April 22, 2013

Roundup is seen as low toxicity to mammals. I wouldn't worry if it was my dog.

Roundup on Wikipedia

Also

Cornell note about Roundup
Subchronic and chronic tests with glyphosate have been conducted with rats, dogs, mice, and rabbits in studies lasting from 21 days to two years. With few exceptions there were no treatment-related gross (easily observable) or cellular changes (5). In a chronic feeding study with rats, no toxic effects were observed in rats given doses as high as 31 mg/kg/day, the highest dose tested. No toxic effects were observed in a chronic feeding study with dogs fed up to 500 mg/kg/day, the highest dose tested (8).
posted by bottlebrushtree at 11:51 AM on April 22, 2013 [3 favorites]

Though I should note, the above is about glyphosate, the chemical _in_ Roundup, Roundup has other chemicals as well that may cause some toxicity.
posted by bottlebrushtree at 11:52 AM on April 22, 2013

In any case where your pet eats something that might be poisonous, it is a good idea to call the ASPCA's Poison Control Hotline at [phone]. It costs $65, but it can save you an even pricier trip to the ER vet.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:58 AM on April 22, 2013 [2 favorites]

If you read through this PDF, it looks like he'll be fine, particularly because it was so long after you sprayed. Even if he does develop some symptoms, it looks like they aren't long-lasting or life-threatening.
posted by theuninvitedguest at 11:58 AM on April 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

Your dog should be fine.

In the future, if you are using roundup, it doesn't make sense to spray the weeds and then cut them down right afterwards, it takes time for the roundup to get down to the roots and kill the plant.
posted by yohko at 12:10 PM on April 22, 2013 [5 favorites]

Something you should have on hand to induce vomiting in animals, hydrogen peroxide.

You shouldn't do this in all instances, but if you need to..you'll have it.

My sister had two dogs. Micha and Audrey. Audrey got called to glory leaving a nearly full prescription of Rimadyl. So Sissy put it in a bag to take to a friend for her dog.

Sissy picks me up at the airport and we get home to discover that Micha has nomed the Rimadyl. Oh Noes! So we call the vet, who advises to induce vomiting and to watch the doggie (Is she sleepy, is she uneasy, is she pooping blood, that kind of stuff.)

So we go to the hall closet for the hydrogen peroxide. Sissy pours it in a bowl and gives it to Micha, who says, "Uh. NO." After I catch my breath from laughing so hard, it gets poured down her gullet. We all go into the backyard and wait.

Doggie is happy to see me. Doggie is prancing around like the queen of the May. Doggie is not puking. We're out in the backyard in the cold and dark, and no puke.

So we go inside and ponder our next steps. About 10 minutes later the dog is in the hall and we hear, 'urp' and then.....WHOOSH! Foamy dog vomit. Cleaned up pretty easily actually.

So...yeah, have some on hand, it's a cheap precaution.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:23 PM on April 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

Consider that you have learned a valuable fact about Labs - they are quick and will gulp almost anything. If your pup has the retriever's "soft mouth', training might teach him to bring you all sorts of things with no tooth marks instead of gulping them. You might not want those things though.
posted by Cranberry at 12:41 PM on April 22, 2013 [1 favorite]

IANAV! But excellent advice by Ruthless Bunny on the hydrogen peroxide to induce doggy vomiting, but no detail in there about dosage, etc.

Just FYI: 1 TSP (that's teaspoon, not tablespoon) per 10 lbs. of body weight. Then help it along by vigorously playing, keep your dog moving so it shakes up in the gut. After 15 minutes, if no vomit, repeat the dose and repeat the activity. If you can't get your dog to run around crazy, you can shake the dog. (No, I'm not kidding.)

If two doses don't work to induce vomiting, call your vet. Never dose a third time.

I've personally had success putting peanut butter along the bottom of a spoon so it's barely coated, and then pouring the H2O2 on top. Our dog licked it up no problem.

Again: IANAV! But this is the advice we were given when our dog ate a bag of Hanukkah gelt and we had to call the ASPCA poison control center. YMMV.
posted by juniperesque at 12:44 PM on April 22, 2013 [4 favorites]

The hydrogen peroxide works rather quickly. I suggest administering the dose in a bathtub. You don't want to know the story behind learning this lesson.
posted by COD at 1:03 PM on April 22, 2013 [5 favorites]

Please don't force your dog to vomit for this. If he drank a quart of it maybe, but not for this.
posted by humboldt32 at 1:19 PM on April 22, 2013 [3 favorites]

This is probably the most useless advice here, but I have a lab and I grew up with labs and they will eat almost anything (so far, we've done a frozen turkey, deer entrails, homework, a jar of chocolate chips, a sweatband [stupid hipster friends], socks, a bra, and a copperhead snake). They have pretty ironclad stomachs. So I imagine he's fine, but let this be a warning to you to be sure to keep all your bras and snakes out of the way.
posted by mrfuga0 at 1:36 PM on April 22, 2013 [3 favorites]