Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

A Labrador-owner is warning people of the danger of rat poison after her pet had a narrow escape.

Joanna Firth, from Worthing, saw her dog, Ernie, just as he was about to eat a sachet of poison.

She said: “I walked in literally at the very moment he was at the sachet. We lunged to get it, but he ate the whole thing before we could stop him.

Luckily Ernie survived after eating rat bait, but the outcome could have been much worse

“We knew we needed to get help fast and phoned Vets Now right away as it was in the evening and our vets was closed.

“Although Ernie hadn’t been sick and was actually looking fine, we realised there was no time to lose.”

Treatment at the Vets Now clinic saved the day, but Joanna said could have had fatal consequences and is urging all owners to be extra careful when rodent traps are around.

The Vets Now Worthing clinic is one of more than 60 clinics and hospitals across the UK that are open seven days a week for out-of-hours pet emergencies. As soon as he arrived, Ernie was assessed and urgently treated.

Ernie's owner, Joanna, managed to catch him eating the rat bait and rushed him to the vets

Olivia Hurst, a vet nurse at Vets Now, said: “Our team gave him an injection to make him sick and he brought up some food and the rat bait.

“It’s vital to get the poison out of the system quickly and, happily, we were able to do that with Ernie.

“After checking his condition, we were then able to let him go home with activated charcoal liquid and a course of tablets to counteract the effects.”

There are several types of rat poison with the most common anticoagulant rodenticides which can cause internal bleeding. Other varieties can result in acute kidney failure, brain swelling and depress the central nervous system, according to Vets Now.

Ernie is a playful one-year-old golden labrador

Luckily, Ernie was fine once they returned from the vets, but Joanna was well aware it could have ended much worse.

Joanna said: “We wouldn’t have realised anything was wrong until much later if I hadn’t walked in at that moment and saw him eating it.

“That’s what worries me the most and I think we were very lucky indeed.”

“It was a really frightening time and my dad felt bad about what happened, so I’d just urge every owner to make sure they keep any rat bait away from dogs. And not to delay in getting help if you need it. Thanks to Vets Now it all worked out happily for us.”

Worthing dog owner warns others after pet’s lucky escape from death