My Dog Ate A Sticky Mouse Trap: What To Do?

Dogs are curious creatures and usually want to meddle in everything that happens in your home. That includes your efforts to chase rats out of the house with sticky mouse traps.

What attracts dogs to mouse traps? Sticky mouse traps, also called glue boards, are usually scented to attract mice. Often, we may decide to sprinkle some yummy treats on the adhesive coating to encourage the mouse to leap onto the board.

Unfortunately, these enticements could also appeal to your dog, and it may attempt to feast on the strange piece of providence. Discovering that what was only meant for a pestering mouse has been consumed by your beloved canine companion is upsetting.

However, the biggest puzzle is knowing what happens to your dog’s health as a result. This article will explain all you need to know if your dog ate a sticky mouse trap.

Contents

What Should You Do If Your Dog Ate a Sticky Mouse Trap?

Visit a veterinary clinic if your dog eats an entire sticky mouse trap, including the base. But, if it has been less than 2 hours since your dog ate the sticky mousetrap, you can induce vomiting by giving it an oral dose of Hydrogen peroxide 3-percent. However, it is best to do this under the guidance of a veterinarian.

Suppose your veterinarian clinic is not accessible at the point of need because it is closed or weather challenges can’t let you leave home immediately. In that case, you can call your veterinarian for guidance on using Hydrogen Peroxide to induce vomiting.

Hydrogen peroxide 3-percent is administered orally, and the vomiting can last for up to 45 minutes. If your dog hasn’t eaten for the past two hours, it would be beneficial to give him a small meal before administering the antiseptic solution.

Can My Dog Get Sick If He Eats a Sticky Mouse Trap?

Note that the glue on mouse traps is not toxic. As such, it will not cause health complications for your dog if ingested. That does not prevent the glue from upsetting your dog’s stomach.

Your dog may experience some gastrointestinal symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea.  Furthermore, if the bait on the trap isn’t poisoned, your dog may get sick if he ate the base of the trap. The base of mouse traps is usually made of plastics which can damage your dog’s intestinal tract.

Other harmful scenarios:

There are other scenarios where eating a sticky mouse trap could pose more serious or even lethal problems to your dog. These include where:

  1. The glue board is infected with mouse droppings.
  2. The dog consumes the glue board together with a mouse trapped in it.

These factors open windows of uncertainties that you must pay attention to.

  • Exposure to vectors

Firstly, rodents harbor a lot of vectors that can cause health challenges to humans and dogs. Many of these vectors can be transmitted through contact with urine, saliva, and other rodent droppings. Hence, if the sticky mouse trap your dog ate was contaminated with mouse droppings, there is a chance of him getting sick.

  • Leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease caused by Leptospira which is transmitted by rodents to other animals. Dogs can be infected with this by biting or eating a mouse or drinking water contaminated with its urine.

Clinical signs might not reveal the presence of the disease in dogs for about seven (7) days after contraction, and early symptoms are usually vague.

If you have a suspicion that your dog might have been infected with leptospirosis after eating a sticky mousetrap, then your vet would have to begin treatment immediately using antibiotics, even before laboratory tests confirm the disease. This proactive measure is to help minimize the possibilities of organ damage in your dog.

  • Poison from Bait

Lastly, there is a possibility that your dog could get sick from secondary rat bait poisoning if it eats a sticky mouse trap with a mouse glued to it. This possibility is quite slim, but it’s worth mentioning.

Secondary poisoning is when an animal gets poisoned after eating an animal that has undigested poison in its mouth or gut. You will need to consider this possibility if you had equally kept rodenticide in rat infected nooks and crannies of the house or the bait used to lure the mouse to the glue board was poisoned and the mouse fed on it.

The occurrence of secondary poisoning depends on the toxicity of rodenticide, the amount of toxicant used, and how many poisoned mouse carcasses your dog had ingested.

Most of the anticoagulant baits used for rodents’ control are formulated with low dosages of active ingredients. Even with primary or secondary bait consumption, a 20-pound dog, for instance, would need to consume a minimum of 1.6 to 96 ounces of bait additives to obtain the value needed for a single-dose poisoning.

In every case of dog poisoning, the common symptoms of toxicosis include gastrointestinal signs like vomiting, diarrhea, and anorexia (loss of appetite), impaired movement, paralysis of the dog’s hind limbs, slight muscle tremors, generalized seizures, and depression of the central nervous system.

There is a myth that feeding dogs with milk will help them deal with ingested poisons. However, the efficacy of a milk meal as a poison treatment for dogs is highly unlikely and unproven. In fact, feeding your dog with milk in cases of poisoning could exacerbate the situation.

Most pets are lactose intolerant, and milk can cause or worsen gastrointestinal upset symptoms. That said, the best way to care for a sick dog is to seek the attention of your veterinarian.

How To Remove Mouse Trap Glue From Your Dog?

It is best to have a veterinarian free your pet from a mouse glue board. The adhesive mouse glue boards are coated with are so strong that trapped animals get more struck the more they struggle to free themselves.

This makes it difficult for untrained individuals to release an animal from a glue board without running the risk of inflicting further injuries or even injuring themselves.

Even if your dog appears unharmed after being successfully freed, it could be injured in ways that are not immediately visible. Your dog may also need treatment for dehydration or extreme exhaustion. If you cannot readily access a veterinarian, you can attempt softening the adhesive and extracting carefully.

Some glue board manufacturers recommend using mineral spirits or paint thinner to dissolve the mouse trap adhesive. However, these chemicals can cause skin irritation, and their fumes are often harmful to dogs.

Also, avoid using alcohol-based products such as nail polish remover or petroleum-based products such as petroleum jelly, motor oil, or lubricating grease to soften the adhesive.

Here’s how to do it:

  • Try to keep your dog calm, so it doesn’t stick more parts of its body to the board.
  • Preferably, get a bottle of cooking or vegetable oil. You can warm it if you can, but this is not necessarily.
  • Wear heavy animal-handling gloves to mitigate the impact from possible occasions of bites.
  • Apply the oil at your dog’s point of contact with the board and gently massage using a thick towel. This will take some time to make the desired impact, so you have to be patient.
  • After getting your dog loose, bath your dog with soap to remove the cooking oil from its body.
  • Keep the dog in a quiet and warm secluded place to get it settled.

It’s important to take your dog to a veterinary clinic afterward. This is because being ‘oiled’ (with the cooking oil) can affect your dog’s ability to regulate body temperature. Your dog may have also incurred injuries that will likely require diagnosis and specialized care.

What Happens If My Dog Eats a Sticky Mouse Trap?

There are several possibilities to look out for if your dog eats a sticky mouse trap. The sticky mouse trap will likely be digested and will eventually pass out in feces. If your dog has eaten more than one glue board, there is a chance all of it will not pass out and could lead to gastrointestinal tract blockage.

Also, your dog could get sick and require intensive care it ate a glue board contaminated with mouse droppings. Monitor your dog for symptoms and any sign of unusual behavior. Contact your veterinarian if needed.

Are Sticky Mouse Traps Poisonous To Dogs?

No, sticky mouse traps do not contain toxic substances. Glue boards are made of pieces of cardboard coated with a strong adhesive designed to catch rodents. This adhesive is not made with chemicals that could pose any danger to humans or dogs. So they do not pose any harm when dogs come in contact with them.

However, they can cause your dog stomach upset, as would any other non-food item, if your dog had eaten them up. This is not a serious concern as your dog will likely pass the ingested glue board.

If you don’t find fragments of the chewed and digested glue board in its face and you’re afraid it could be stuck in its system. So, take your dog to a veterinary clinic for proper examination.

Disclaimer: This blog should not be considered as being professional pet medical advice. The content published on this blog is for informational purposes only. Please always consult with a licensed and local veterinarian for medical advice.

About Shaun Clarke

Shaun is passionate about pets and animals, especially dogs, cats, and rabbits. He owns a dog and a couple of cats too. He loves visiting wildlife sanctuaries and shares a strong bond with animals. When he is not writing, he loves to do a barbecue in the backyard with his family and friends.