Playdough is an easy educational activity for kids, but if you have pets at home you need to be aware of the dangers of playdough for your pets.
Dogs too love playing around with things they find around the house, and playdough can easily fall down from the table when playing or left at a table. But do you know what could happen if your dog eats playdough?
Homemade Playdough (play doh) is usually made of flour and salt and these can pose a potentially poisonous threat to your dog.
Playdough, salt ornaments, cinnamon ornaments, or any other dough containing large amounts of salt can be very harmful. If your dog eats play dough make sure to watch signs of salt poisonous and contact your local veterinarian.
How many times have your kids play with playdough and they leave it on the table? in my house, it happens often, and I never gave it a second thought besides “the playdough is going to dry out”.
Luckily our dogs haven’t tried to eat it, but they have eaten a few cinnamon ornaments which contains salt.
Just like any other toy he steals from the kids, I didn’t think it was a big deal he took an ornament.
All ingredients were from the kitchen so I didn’t think it could be a big deal, it is toxic free right?
Our dog didn’t eat the playdough but he did eat a cinnamon ornament we made for our Christmas tree. Well, these ornaments are made similar to the playdough and do contain a large amount of salt. The salt is a preservative allowing the ornament to last longer.
But the salt is also poison if consumed in large quantities.
Luckily no harm was caused to our dog Falco, but after reading a story and the dangers of a little dog eating playdough, I am now extra careful when we play with playdough, making salt dough ornaments, or any other sensory play recipe that contains a large amount of salt. I was shocked to know how easy playdough can poison dogs.
Will Playdough cause harm if consumed by a dog?
Most homemade playdoughs contain a large quantity of salt and this can result in salt poisoning on your dogs.
According to the makers of the most popular brand, Play-Doh’s ingredients are secret but it is known that it does contain salt in their recipe (as well as water and flour).
While playdoh is non-toxic, non-irritating, and non-allergenic, Play-Doh can be harmful to pets if ingested due to the high salt content.
Dog Eats Playdough Story and Got lucky!
A small Shit Zu was found drinking a lot of water and urinating everywhere after consuming playdough, and in no time, they reached the emergency vet.
“Too much salt is dangerous for dogs and sodium toxicosis, as it’s known, can occur when dogs ingest anything high in salt from home-made playdough to seawater.
Vets-now.com
The vet was super concerned as the salt had started to affect the dog’s body. The dog had salt poisonous. He was given medication to make him vomit and then put on a drip and monitored closely through the night. He was lucky and was taken to the vet on time for treatment.
Playdough could be life-threatening to dogs
Although it will depend on the amount of salt the dog consumes, some signs of salt poisoning can be seen. Both homemade and store-bought playdough contains salt in their ingredient list.
Why is playdough harmful to dogs?
Homemade play dough contains an excessive amount of sodium chloride (salt), which is toxic to dogs.
“Sodium chloride is an electrolyte, which helps to regulate your body’s water levels, muscle contractions, and nerve impulses.
The way this causes damage is by the water in your dog’s blood cells being released to dilute the salt in the blood.
This injures the cells, including the extreme and irreversible destruction of the brain cells, causing the neurological symptoms most often seen with homemade play dough poisoning.
The damaged brain cells are broken off from their normal location, which causes the fluid to build up and may bring on seizures and possibly coma. Fluid also builds up in the lungs, producing breathing difficulty and weakness.“- wagwalking.com
Signs to watch out for if your dog eats playdough
According to PetpoisonHelpline salt poisoning in dogs and cats results in signs of:
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
- Decreased appetite
- Lethargy
- Incoordination
- Excessive thirst or urination.
If you think your dog or cat ingested homemade play dough or salt dough, call your veterinarian or Pet Poison Helpline immediately for life-saving treatment advice.
Homemade playdough without salt
If you want a playdough recipe that
doesn’t contains salt you can do my latest creation! It is so soft and easy to make you can do it in leas than 5min!
1 thought on “The dangers if your dog eats Playdough (or play doh)”
Comments are closed.