The chewed up battery was presented to me by the client together with the dogBatteries will not power-up your dogs as compared to your remote control or other battery-run gadgets and appliances. Instead, they might suffer toxicity, muscosal and gastric burns- to a more severe note, gastric perforation and death.
It is our pet's nature to discover things around them. In contrast to us using our hands and other senses to discover things, dogs do use their mouth (by chewing), olfaction and sight. however, as owners, it is our responsibility to screen out things and even food that may cause problems to our pets, batteries being one of them. (You may also be familiar with my previous posts on rodenticides, needles, foreign objects, firecrackers and the like)
Discussing the components and the different types batteries can become too geeky and nerdy for this site and you may search for it somewhere.
Going back, batteries contain chemicals that may cause mucosal burns when in contact with the skin. Most dogs brought into the clinic that are suspected for battery ingestion may have oral burns and may have a recent history of chewing on a battery powered gadget. The owners may report a missing battery or will bring with them the chewed up battery. Doing a radiograph may reveal the location of the battery if swallowed.
If the incident happened very recently, emesis may be done, however it should only be done if the battery was swallowed whole without chewing especially button batteries. The leakage of the battery components and its contact with the mucosa may further cause chemical burns. In some cases, surgery may be warranted and in others, oral medications may work. However, It all depends on the case presented. If you knew you pet has ingested a battery, do not wait for several days as it may more be difficult to manage by this time and toxicity or poisoning may have occured.
Prevention is still better than cure. So be very careful with your things if you have a pet as you would be if there is a child in the house.
It is our pet's nature to discover things around them. In contrast to us using our hands and other senses to discover things, dogs do use their mouth (by chewing), olfaction and sight. however, as owners, it is our responsibility to screen out things and even food that may cause problems to our pets, batteries being one of them. (You may also be familiar with my previous posts on rodenticides, needles, foreign objects, firecrackers and the like)
Discussing the components and the different types batteries can become too geeky and nerdy for this site and you may search for it somewhere.
Going back, batteries contain chemicals that may cause mucosal burns when in contact with the skin. Most dogs brought into the clinic that are suspected for battery ingestion may have oral burns and may have a recent history of chewing on a battery powered gadget. The owners may report a missing battery or will bring with them the chewed up battery. Doing a radiograph may reveal the location of the battery if swallowed.
If the incident happened very recently, emesis may be done, however it should only be done if the battery was swallowed whole without chewing especially button batteries. The leakage of the battery components and its contact with the mucosa may further cause chemical burns. In some cases, surgery may be warranted and in others, oral medications may work. However, It all depends on the case presented. If you knew you pet has ingested a battery, do not wait for several days as it may more be difficult to manage by this time and toxicity or poisoning may have occured.
Prevention is still better than cure. So be very careful with your things if you have a pet as you would be if there is a child in the house.
My grand daughter is almost 9 yrs old and she is constantly putting button batteries in her mouth. She steels my hearing aide batteries and has taken button batteries out of her light up toys that she has with a screw driver. She doesn't swallow them and I have told her how dangerous it is and she promises to stop and I catch her again and again. She almost seems addicted to them. When I find them it's as if I found her stash. I have asked my Doctor and he never heard of such a thing. I also contacted the button battery help line, both national and local and they have only delt with babies that have swallowed them. PLEASE HELP ME FIND AN ANSWER!!!!!
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