* COMPOST POISONING

Like most Jack Russell Terriers, Rippa loves to stick her nose into all sorts of trouble. However, when she decided to “help” her Dad with the gardening he thought her innocent digging and eating compost was pretty harmless.

 

Rippa had been eating bits of compost on and off for a day or so but shortly after one of her “snacks” she began to tremble violently. By the time she got to the Clinic her whole body was convulsing involuntarily, she was unable to stand and like her owners she was obviously distressed.

 

There are several disorders and different types of poison that can cause these symptoms including snail bait, strychnine, seeds of the Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow plant and eating compost.

 

After ruling out any access to any of those poisons except compost, treatment was begun to control Rippa’s muscle convulsions.

 

Most of us have heard the storey of Sir Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin that was produced by a mould that had grown on one of his plates of bacteria. Moulds that grow in compost and on rotting food can also produce all sorts of substances, many of which can be highly poisonous.

 

These poisons act in the central nervous system to increase the activity of nerves that cause the tremors. Rippa was given medications to directly counter the poison. She also was anaesthetised to flush her stomach and have charcoal placed in her stomach that helps absorb any poisons still in her gut.

 

Intravenous fluids were used to keep her hydrated and to help her excrete the poisons already in her blood stream. Additional medications were used to keep her calm.

 

Compost poisons cause violent muscle tremors that lead to overheating of the body that can ultimately cause seizures, coma and death. By controlling the muscle tremors, limiting further poison absorption from the gut and helping to clear the body of the poison, patients will usually recover over one to two days.

 

Needless to say, dogs should be kept away from compost. But tell that to Rippa, who was back to her old self the next day, and I think the lure of that mouldy piece of food that made it through the compost cycle would still overcome any warning bells that may sound ever so briefly in her tiny Jack Russell brain.