For some reason, dogs love to eat and chew anything they see, including roach baits!
Hence, many pet owners worry about what could happen to their dogs if they have eaten combat roach baits. Will combat roach bait hurt your dog?
The dosage of toxic chemicals contained in combat roach bait is not enough to cause severe and lethal complications in dogs. If a dog has ingested roach bait, it may experience mild stomach irritation, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and drooling.
All of these symptoms are common bodily reactions when toxic compounds enter a dog’s digestive tract.
You should be more worried if your dog ate the packaging or plastic tube of roach baits as this can lead to bowel obstruction, a severe and dangerous health problem. Do you want to learn more? Keep on reading!
Is Combat Roach Bait Harmful to Dogs?
Although most roach bait products contain very low toxicity and are not lethal to dogs, they are still harmful and dangerous when ingested.
Most roach gels have safety margins for house pets and contain toxic chemicals that are potent enough to kill roaches but are still safe for dogs.
A few slices or pieces of combat roach bait will not be enough to poison and kill a dog or other pets. Your dog will need to munch out a tray of roach baits to suffer lethal complications.
Nonetheless, as mentioned earlier, if a dog ate roach bait, it will still experience mild stomach irritation accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea. Most of the time, this is something you should not worry about.
These natural bodily reactions should cease after a few hours. However, you should immediately take your dog to a veterinarian if symptoms persist after several hours or if its condition worsens over time.
It is actually more worrisome if your dog ate the plastic casing or the tube of the combat roach bait than when it has ingested roach poison. Hence, you should carefully check the packaging of the roach bait.
Foreign body obstruction or intestinal obstruction could occur if your dog has also eaten a piece of the packaging or swallowed plastic from the combat roach gel tube.
Dogs that have ingested pieces of plastic from the plastic casing of a roach station can suffer from foreign body obstruction or intestinal obstruction.
Also known as bowel and stomach obstruction, intestinal obstruction is a serious health problem that could be fatal if left untreated.
If the blockage in the stomach isn’t removed, the dog could die after 3 to 5 days due to various complications such as dehydration and infection.
What Happens If Your Dog Eats Combat Roach Bait?
Roach bait products contain sugar and preservatives, which attracts not only cockroaches but also our adorable pets! This is why dogs couldn’t resist the temptation of eating and snacking on roach baits.
Although roach bait poisoning might sound like a life-threatening medical condition, this isn’t something you would normally worry about, especially if immediate medical attention is given.
A dog that has ingested combat roach poison will mostly experience vomiting, diarrhea, stomach upset, drooling, pain in the oral cavity, lethargy, shivering, and uncoordinated gait.
These clinical signs and symptoms are normal bodily reactions when foreign toxic compounds or poison enter a dog’s body.
The signs and symptoms might not be fatal, but they could progress into more severe complications, which could risk your dog’s health.
You should urgently visit a veterinarian should your dog’s condition worsen.
How Long Would It Take for a Dog to Show Signs of Poisoning?
The manifestation of clinical signs of poisoning from roach trap may vary from dog to dog, depending on the amount of roach poison ingested.
Some toxic compounds from roach traps take effect after a few minutes, while others take up to 24 hours.
Nevertheless, initial bodily reactions such as sudden vomiting, stomach upset, nausea, drooling, and skin rashes usually begin to show 30 minutes to two hours after the dog swallowed the combat roach poison.
Other clinical symptoms of roach bait poisoning, such as lethargy, diarrhea, and shivering, may take longer to manifest.
What to Do If Your Dog Accidentally Eats Combat Roach Bait?
You must act quickly to avoid severe and further complications if your dog eats combat roach baits or other harmful products for pets, such as silica gel or birth control pills.
Although roach baits are not lethal to most pets, dogs that have ingested roach traps should be taken to the veterinarian immediately.
Urgency should be given, especially to dogs experiencing severe regurgitation, shivering, and seizures.
After careful examination, the veterinarian may induce vomiting for your pet to withdraw the remaining roach poison in its digestive tract. You should not force your dog to puke at home without veterinary advice.
If the vet advises you to make your dog throw up, you can give your dog a proper amount of hydrogen peroxide to induce vomiting.
According to the American Kennel Club (AKC), the proper dosage for a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution is one teaspoon per five pounds of the dog’s body weight and three teaspoons for dogs weighing more than 45 pounds.
You can administer the hydrogen peroxide solution by squirting it into the side of your dog’s mouth using a syringe. Activated charcoal may also be used to cleanse the residue of the roach poison from the digestive tract.
To prevent dehydration, veterinarians may recommend giving intravenous fluids to dogs that are vomiting and experiencing diarrhea. Dogs who exhibit shivering and seizures are also given anticonvulsants and sedatives by the vet.
Contrary to popular belief, though, professional veterinarians do not advise giving raw eggs to dogs that have ingested roach traps. They argue that raw eggs do not have the binding components necessary to neutralize the poison.
Dogs having difficulty breathing might also need supplemental oxygen support and might be required to stay in the clinic in the meantime.
Meanwhile, if you see your dog pacing back and forth, pawing its mouth, having difficulties breathing, and whining, it might be choking on a piece of plastic from the bait’s plastic housing.
Here is what you need to do if your dog is choking due to the ingestion of plastic fragments, such as those in roach traps:
- Gently restrain your dog but do not put on a muzzle. Your dog might struggle and resist as it tries to remove the choke by itself, which could potentially harm itself and you.
- Gently open the mouth and scan for stuck objects at the back of the throat.
- If the object is visible, try removing or dislodging it with the help of another person. While the other person gently keeps the mouth open, you can try removing the stuck object using a pair of long tweezers or long-nose pliers. Do not insert your fingers or hand to avoid the risk of getting bitten.
- At any cost, avoid pushing the object as you may lodge it deeper.
- You can also perform the Heimlich maneuver to expel the object.
- If none of the above-mentioned options works, drive your dog to the nearest veterinary clinic as soon as possible.
If you suspect that your dog ate pieces of plastic from the combat roach bait station, you should still take it to the vet immediately.
The ingested pieces of plastic from a bait station are harmful and could cause foreign body obstruction.
The sharp pieces of plastic housing your dog ate could also cause internal lacerations in the throat lining and gastrointestinal tract.
The treatment for stomach blockage can be surgical or non-surgical, depending on the shape, size, and location of the plastic pieces in the digestive tract.
In some cases, veterinarians can remove the plastic fragments or pieces of the metal bait casing from the GI tract through endoscopy, which does not require surgery.
If for some reason you cannot go to the vet urgently, you can also give your dog plain pumpkin paste right after the ingestion.
This creates a substance that could potentially cushion the sharp plastics all the way through the intestinal tract.
Watch this video for some tips on what to do if your dog swallows something poisonous, such as roach bait:
How to Prevent Your Dog From Eating Combat Roach Bait
As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. You should know how to carefully use bait traps, bait stations, and bait gels to keep your pets at home safe and prevent them from snacking on these insecticides.
Strategic placement is key to ensuring that your dog won’t be able to eat roach baits. Place the bait station or roach trap in areas your dog can’t reach.
Make sure that smarty dogs won’t also be able to drag out the roach baits in narrow spaces with their paws.
You can place roach baits on top of kitchen shelves, inside a closed cupboard, in the cabinet sink, and in other areas that are too high or too narrow for your pet to reach.
Adhesive roach traps are also a better choice than bait gels and bait stations as they don’t use any kind of toxic or poison. Natural insecticide alternatives are also highly toxic and potent to insects but safe for pets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are There Safer Alternatives for Chemical-Based Roach Baits?
Aside from using chemical-based roach baits, there are other safer and more effective ways of eliminating roaches and pests in your house that are not harmful to dogs.
A homemade roach killer might be a perfect choice if you do not want to risk your dog and other pets eating a chemical-based roach poison.
You would be surprised to know that your common household items can actually make good roach baits.
Here are some of the homemade roach killers that are not toxic to dogs and other pets:
- Baking Soda and Sugar: This tasteful treat is safe for pets but deadly for cockroaches. Mix an equal part of baking soda and table sugar and put it in a small container, plate, or lid of a jar. Then, place it in locations where your dog will not be able to reach it. It is recommended to use large metal plates to contain the baking soda and sugar solution if possible.
- Essential Oils as Deterrents: While the smell of essential oils is relaxing for many people, cockroaches do not feel the same way. Reportedly, the scent of many essential oils such as tea tree oil, eucalyptus oil, lavender oil, and peppermint oil effectively deters roaches.
- Garlic Spray: Like essential oils, garlic has a strong scent and smell that roaches dislike. You can create garlic spray at home by mixing garlic powder or paste with hot water.
If your home is heavily infested by roaches, you might also want to consider availing of the professional service of pest control companies.
What Do Roach Baits Usually Contain and Are They Harmful to Dogs?
The toxic active ingredients that combat roach bait usually contains are fipronil, hydramethylnon, indoxacarb, and boric acid. Some of these chemicals are also used in tick treatments.
These ingredients are highly toxic and deadly for insects. Unfortunately, they are also harmful to dogs, especially in large quantities.
The other components of roach baits are non-toxic ingredients such as sugar and preservatives, which are used to attract household pests.
Which Commercial Roach Baits Are Safe for Dogs and Other Pets?
Some commercially available pet-safe roach baits are Combat Max Roach Trap, Ecosmart Ant and Roach Killer, Raid, Ecologic, and All-N-One Bug Defense Natural Spray.
Most roach bait products contain natural oils and plant-based solutions that are not toxic to dogs and other pets. However, the above-mentioned are those with even safer ingredients.
Final Thoughts
Undeniably, roach baits do well in doing their job of keeping our homes pest-free. However, you should be careful in using them. If your pet or dog ate roach bait, its health might be jeopardized.
If you plan to use bait stations or roach traps, make sure to strategically place them in places where your dogs wouldn’t be able to reach them.
You can also use roach deterrents and killers that are not toxic to dogs, such as the alternatives mentioned in the previous section.
If your dog ate roach bait and exhibits severe symptoms, you must immediately call animal poison control or take it to the nearest veterinary clinic.
Have you ever been in a situation where your dog ate roach bait, or did you have other similar experiences? Tell us about it in the comment section!
