ROTT N CHATTER, November 1992, Volume 1 Number 4

 

                 IS IT EPILEPSY OR....IS IT LEAD POISONING??

 

Vomiting and seizures are the most common signs of lead poisoning in dogs.

A report released in November 1992 Cornell University College of Veterinary

Medicine Animal Health Newsletter recommend that lead intoxication should

always be considered BEFORE a diagnosis of Epilepsy is made in an pet.

 

Remeber when miners used to take a canary down into the mine-shafts with

them?  If there were toxic gases in the air, the bird would begin to show

signs of illness before it could affect the men.  Men were often saved from

serious and even fatal poisoning.  Well guess what folks...it seems out

favorite family pets can also be our heros in like fashion.

 

During the last couple of decades we have learned that our dogs are affected

by the hazards of lead poisoning not unlike our unsuspecting children and

infants.  However, it has been found that our family pet can be tested and

become a sort of 'sentinel' for our families.  Lead toxicity will usually

show up inour pets long before symptoms of lead poisoning appear in our

children.  The use of lead in things such as paint, gasoline and other

commonly used products has been greatly curtailed during the last decade.

However, the Center for Disease Control has estimated that 80 percent of

privately owned housing units built BEFORE 1980 contain some lead-based

paint.