What should I do if my dog has eaten soap? - First aid

Sometimes animals surprise us. Dogs are curious by nature, which can cause us some discomfort or concern. It can be a puppy or an adult who loves to play, investigates with more energy, and may eat things they shouldn't.

In this Blog article we will see what should I do if my dog ​​has eaten soap? Is it an emergency? Can it be poisoned? We will expand with more details to know how to act in these cases.

Identify the product that our dog has consumed

What kind of soap was it? That is the big question that veterinarians ask when desperate owners call us when they realize that their dog has eaten soap. It is important to understand that a little soap during the bath is not the same as a bar of soap from the washing machine, a block of white soap to wash clothes by hand or a glycerin soap for the human body. As you will see, there are different types and different consequences for our animal.

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• Neutral laundry soap or the one that goes inside the washing machine has very powerful chemical substances such as acids, phosphates, industrial enzymes and a series of substances that damage the gastric mucosa of our dog. Therefore, no matter how much you have ingested, it will cause more or less intoxication symptoms throughout the day.
• When we refer to glycerin soap we can get lucky. Sometimes there is a baby at home and the soap usually has non-toxic properties to prevent damage to our children. But not always what is not harmful to our children will be harmless for pets.

We must take our dog to the veterinarian to evaluate the measures that we must follow. It must be considered that it is a poisoning and it is an emergency.

 

What are the symptoms?

When your dog eats a soap, of any kind, it has suffered intoxication or poisoning, so the symptoms that we can appreciate will be the following:

• Vomiting and diarrhea (We can see blood in some cases).
• Whining due to severe abdominal pain.
• Hypersalivation, being able to observe puddles.
• Excessive thirst (Polyuria).
• Weakness, fatigue and/or depression.
• Dilated pupils.
• Coughing and sneezing, as if the dog wanted to expel.
• Tremors and muscle spasms.
• Increased sweating.
• Incoordination, nervousness, collapse and unconsciousness, leading to stupor and coma if not treated in time.
• Loss of appetite and anorexia.

How do I help my dog?

The first thing we should do is call the vet and/or go immediately when we detect the problem. Like any poisoning, it is an emergency.

However, there are some first aids that we can apply to our dog until the vet arrives, which will improve the picture. Knowing that our dog has eaten soap is not always lethal, but it can cause many health problems if we do not act quickly to reverse the condition:

1. We can cause vomiting so we will eliminate a large part of the ingested soap. This is very useful if we see him when he performs the action or after a short time, otherwise it doesn't make much sense, much less if he is already vomiting.
2. Save a part of the soap, if there is any, for the vet, in case he wants to analyze it.
3. Never medicate unless the vet tells us to, since we will only complicate the picture and hinder possible cures.
4. Offer him water to see if he wants for 2 reasons: to hydrate him or to induce vomiting, as if it were a stomach pump.

With the arrival of the veterinarian at home or us at the clinic, the typical measures for intoxication will begin. You may have to spend the night in the clinic since, through serum and medication, they will be able to reverse the present symptoms.