Rainy summers bring a surge of wild mushrooms — and curious dogs eager to eat them. A North Carolina veterinary toxicologist warns that about a third of the mushrooms found in the state can be toxic to pets.
FULL STORY: Don’t let your dog eat wild mushrooms. They could make your pet very sick – or worse.
Here are key takeaways:
- Dr. David Dorman, a veterinary toxicologist at N.C. State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, told The News & Observer in a 2022 interview that dogs should never be allowed to eat wild mushrooms because roughly a third of North Carolina’s varieties can be toxic and owners can’t tell safe from dangerous by sight.
- In 2022, two Raleigh dogs died and four others became seriously ill after eating a poisonous mushroom known as a “Death Angel.”
- If your dog does eat a mushroom, watch for vomiting, diarrhea and gastrointestinal upset. Some dogs may develop kidney or liver failure hours to days later, become weak, stop eating or act depressed. Certain mushrooms are hallucinogenic and can cause abnormal behavior.
- If your dog eats a wild mushroom, stop it from eating more, bag the remaining mushroom including the underground base and take both the sample and your pet to a veterinarian immediately.
- Remove mushrooms from your yard by pulling the entire mushroom out of the ground while wearing gloves, then bag and throw them away.
- Two fee-based hotlines can help: ASPCA Animal Poison Control (888-426-4435, $95) and Pet Poison Helpline (855-764-7661, $85).
The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The full story in the link at top was reported, written and edited entirely by journalists.…