Warning: Nicotine Poisoning

[silverfish]

I've just heard this morning about a pup in my area who got hold of a refill bottle for an e-cigarette. The owner was in the next room and found him just as he pierced the bottle with a tooth. He was taken straight to the vet, who kept him overnight and treated him to the best of their ability, but the pup died the next day.

 

I'm posting this just as a reminder that nicotine in all its forms is a poison. We tend to think of it as fairly harmless because so many people smoke and don't drop dead on the spot, but it is not. It is most dangerous when it's concentrated and the refill bottles (at least in this country) don't even have child-proof caps on them (which amazes me) and are made of plastic.

If you use cigarette substitutes: gum, patches, e-cigarettes etc, please take care, and treat them as you would any other poison. There is no specific antidote to nicotine.

[Guest june]

So sorry to hear about the pup. Just another reason to be very happy I never started smoking. It is a horrible habit to try to quit.

[silverfish]

Me too, June. I would never have been able to give up, I think.

[zoesmommy]

I am besides my self about the dog. I will make a point of posting it on my Quit Smoking topic I've been running!

 

I know this is info everybody knows on GT. Just friendly reminders:

 

Chocolate/caffeine is poisonous. Since Valentines day just passed, please keep track of candy you may leave out in a dish or candy/candy wrappers especially if you have toddlers or small children that like to walk about the house with this.

 

Also, please review harmful plant list. I received a live Calla Lilly for Valentines Day.

Spring is coming. For those who garden please check bulbs. I have an amaryllis I force indoors to bloom every year. That IS poison to dogs. Since I have a plant nibbler I have to keep it well out of reach. Check your harmful to dogs house plants list also.

 

Thanks for the heads up about the nicotine! Again so sorry for the dog. That was tragic!

Edited February 19, 2014 by zoesmommy

[2greyhoundMINI]

Thanks for the reminder... my sister uses those E-cigarettes. I'll make sure when she is over they are very much out of harms way.

[silverfish]

I know, that poor puppy .. he never had a chance.

 

The other reminders are always worth repeating. I too have an amaryllis, but neither of mine nibble on plants. Also, when we are out, they are locked out of the conservatory where the potentially dangerous plants are kept.

 

My chocolate is kept in a drawer or a cupboard. I like the really dark stuff, so I've got into the habit of putting it away. Likewise, my asthma inhalers - another potential killer when punctured - are kept very much put out of harms way, either in a drawer or inside a bag which is kept hung on a high peg.

 

The nicotine refills just hadn't crossed my mind, probably because nobody here uses them.