Shih Tzu who ate homemade playdough treated for salt poisoning by emergency vets
For many children, making ornaments out of salt dough will be a popular way to enjoy time at home during the coronavirus crisis.
But one family discovered to their horror that salt dough also poses a potentially deadly threat to dogs.
Tracy Fellows had to rush her dog Woofus to the vet after he took a fancy to some ornaments her daughter had made.
When she discovered the five-year-old Shih Tzu had been eating the salt dough, which is made from flour, salt and water, Tracy and her family checked online and were dismayed to discover how easily it can poison dogs.
Tracy called out-of-hours pet emergency service Vets Now in Gateshead who asked how much he had ingested.
The family calculated Woofus had eaten the equivalent of 70 grammes of salt — more than enough to kill a dog double his size.
Woofus was saved by emergency vets after swallowing poisonous salt dough Find an Emergency Vet
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According to the makers of the most popular brand, Play-Doh, the exact ingredients are a secret.
But they say it is primarily a mixture of water, salt and flour. While non-toxic, non-irritating and non-allergenic, Play-Doh can be harmful to pets if ingested due to the high salt content.
Tracey said: “We were told to take him to the clinic in Gateshead immediately. By this time he was drinking copious amounts of water and urinating everywhere.
“The vet was obviously quite concerned because the salt dough was starting to affect his body.
“When I asked what the outcome could be, I was warned it could result in brain damage, multiple organ failures or even death, so I needed to get him there as quickly as possible.”
Tracy added: “Woofus started to shake slightly on my 12-year-old daughter’s knee as we drove to the vet — so I was trying to reassure her that although it was serious and we might lose him, it was not her fault.”
Thankfully, Gateshead is just a 20-minute drive from the family’s Sunderland home. Tracy was full of praise for the Vets Now staff who began treating Woofus as soon as he arrived.
He was given medication to make him vomit and then put on a drip and monitored closely through the night.
Vet Jacqueline Seymour said she was delighted Woofus had managed to battle through his ordeal without any lasting side-effects.
She said: “Given how much salt dough he’d eaten, Woofus has had a lucky escape.
“Too much salt is dangerous for dogs and sodium toxicosis, as it’s known, can occur when dogs ingest anything high in salt from home-made playdough to sea water.
“Tracy did the right thing by contacting us so quickly, and hopefully Woofus’s case will alert other families that salt dough ornaments can pose a serious risk.
“Dog owners should keep anything high in salt out of reach. Those worried their dog has been poisoned by salt should contact their vet or, out of hours, Vets Now straight away for advice and treatment.”
According to the makers of the most popular brand, Play-Doh, the exact ingredients are a secret.
But they say it is primarily a mixture of water, salt and flour. While non-toxic, non-irritating and non-allergenic, Play-Doh can be harmful to pets if ingested due to the high salt content.
Salt dough models similar to those Woofus swallowed
If you plan to hang salt dough ornaments from your tree, place them high where your dog cannot reach them, or better yet, avoid putting them out altogether. If your pet eats a salt dough ornament, contact your veterinarian and the Pet Poison Helpline (855-764-7661) immediately.
While not supervised, two-and-a-half-year-old Lexi snuck downstairs in the home of Larry and Hope Pospisil and ate a salt ornament, which the couple had crafted with their young daughter. It featured a purple paw print. The Pospisils didn’t think much of the incident and left the house for a few hours.
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“When we got home around 5 p.m., [Lexi] had peed all through her kennel and was shaking uncontrollably. She couldnt even make it back up the stairs, as she fell backwards,” Hope wrote on Facebook. By the time they arrived at the vet, Lexi had already suffered neurological damage and had to be put to sleep.
A family is warning pet owners about the danger of a popular craft project and decoration that caused the death of their dog, Lexi.
As few as 1-2 ornaments could make your dog very sick. There is enough salt in the ornament that your dog could easily become trembly and stumble from salt poisoning. Allow your dog to drink water, as long as it is not vomiting, while you consult us or your veterinarian. The baked ornaments can also be very difficult to pass – causing either pain or obstruction.
Pet and kid friendly, safer alternatives do exist in the form of craft kits – check to see if they carry these at your local craft supply store!
If you do choose to make salt dough ornaments be sure to keep pets out of the area while the crafts are being made, place the ornaments in a high location so pets can’t get them off of a counter while they are drying and then hang them on a tall, sturdy branch to avoid it from falling off the tree.
Salt dough ornaments are a fun way to spend time together and focus on creating joy. As beautiful and memorable as these keepsakes may be, they can also pose a serious threat to the dogs endlessly looking for something to munch.
Why Salt is Bad for Your Dog
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It’s that time of the year again when we start seeing super cute tutorials for making salt dough ornaments for the tree. Children love to make them, they’re very inexpensive, and they provide a great way to preserve a memory, whether that’s a dog’s paw print or a child’s hand print.
Made with only salt, flour, and water, the dough ornaments can be poisonous if eaten by a dog, even once the ornament is dried and hung on the tree. Salt toxicity is a real risk with salt dough due to the high salt content. We had several salt dough ornaments of our own that we bought in Ecuador when we were there on assignment years ago (above). We no longer use them on the tree because we learned that salt dough–including most homemade play dough–is extremely toxic to dogs with potentially life-threatening toxicity.
Instead of salt dough, consider clay kits to preserve your dog’s paw print! These are also extremely easy to use. Kits like Pet Paw Print Kit (on Amazon)*