With mouse plagues taking over some NSW towns, the collatoral damage continues to spread.
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Elizabeth Jarrett was forced to take two of her beloved pets to the vet two nights in a row after they had eaten baited mice.
Thankfully, Gracie the year-old Dachshund and Max the four-year-old German Shepherd are on the mend after the poison started seeping into their system.
With a plague of the scurrying mice taking over town, it's a common scenario nowadays, with stores selling out of their mice baits and traps quicker than ever before.
Ms Jarrett lives on a property at Bective, and said there had been mice in the sheds, so she had put out baits. But poor Gracie and Max decided to eat some of the mice that had been baited.
"Gracie just started whimpering and went off her food and then was breathing heavy, and then I had a school function on the Monday night and when I got home she was like that so I rung the vets and raced her in," she told the Leader.
On Tuesday, Max started going downhill, too.
"I came home from work that afternoon and he wouldn't sit down, you could tell he wasn't well, and he went to jump down a step and whimpered like the sausage dog," Ms Jarrett said.
"Then I rang the vet again and they said to bring them straight in."
Piper Street Veterinary Clinic vet Jayne Upston said they had seen an influx of dogs and cats brought in over the past month after consuming mouse bait poison.
"There would've been easily 30 that have required treatment. Most of those we have been able to make vomit and have thankfully avoided full-blown treatment which is great," she said.
"The risk with rat bait poisoning is it contains a rodenticide - it prevents clotting, and basically when that happens it's quite life threatening, and we like to make them vomit especially if that animal has consumed that poison."
For Gracie and Max, unfortunately this wasn't the case, with the family living out of town. Gracie stayed in the clinic for a few days, while Max had to stay overnight.
"We've got to keep an eye on them and they take tablets twice a day for three weeks, then after three days, we have to take them in and make sure the blood's clotting," Ms Jarrett said.
Ms Upston said it was best to bring baited animals in as soon as possible.
"The sooner the better, because if they can bring it straight up then they don't have time to absorb the poison," she said.
She said some symptoms to look out for if you suspect your furry friend has been baited include:
- Lethargy;
- Not eating;
- Pale gums;
- Breathing difficulties;
- Not running about or playing as usual;
- Coughing;
- Bleeding from the mouth or nose;
- Blood in their faeces or urine..