While we rarely hear of human lead poisoning now, our dogs and puppies occasionally suffer from such poisoning. The condition can be fatal and requires prompt treatment by a qualified veterinarian.

Some woofs have a tendency to eat non-appropriate things. Eating an old lead toy soldier, battery or even a piece of solder from a workshop may cause lead poisoning in such a dog.

Years ago white house paint contained lead. This paint has been replaced with safer alternatives but many houses still have layers of paint containing lead covering their woodwork. If this paint is loose or flaking, a dog may be tempted into licking the surface and so ingest the lead. However, a bigger danger arises when redecorating an old house. Sanding down paintwork puts fine paint dust in the air. Inevitably, some of this dust will settle on a dog. The dog then ingests the dust while grooming itself.

Paint is not the only lead present in old houses. Lead water piping was very common. When renovating a water system moving a lead pipe dislodges a layer of carbonate built up on the inside of the pipe. This allows lead into the water. Therefore the dog may ingest the poison with is drinking water.

Another overlooked source of such poison is the bowl we use for our dog's food. Ceramic bowls, which are improperly glazed, are a potential source of lead.

A previously common source of lead was the old leaded petroleum exhaust fumes from cars ha a high percentage of lead and a dog walking along the street was just the right height to breath in these lead laded fumes. Fortunately, with the introduction of unleaded petrol technology this source of lead poisoning is rare.

Although leaded paint is no loner use in houses tubes of some artist's paints still contain lead based pigments. If a dog starts chewing on the tubes of paint, he soon ingests the toxic paint.

If the owner of the dog is a hunter, who regularly feeds his dog with shot animals the lead in the shotgun pellets within the meat may harm the dog.

Other sources of lead include the metal foil sealing some bottles of wine, linoleum, lead roofing shingles an industrial pollution particularly in the air around lead smelters.

Lead is a heavy metal, which remains in the body. small amounts ingested over time build up to toxic levels causing chronic lead poisoning. Acute poisoning also occurs is the dog ingests a large amount of lead at one time. Lead salts within the gastrointestinal tract act as irritants causing the dog to exhibit the signs of gastroenteritis.

The lead ions within the woofs tissues cause a greater problem. Lead affects certain enzymes and the production of red blood cells. The net affect of lead poisoning on a dog is the development of anemia and the potential of damage to the central nervous system.

The poisoning of a dog by any substance requires veterinarian examination. They will carry out tests to ascertain exactly what is poisoning the dog and the best treatment options.

Reference sources:

Pet Education.com

Merck Veterinary Manual

Pro Vet.co

Learn more about this author, Alison Bowler.
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