Iron Poisoning in Dogs

In this guide

Iron supplements are common in Indian households, given how widespread iron-deficiency anaemia is, particularly among women, and many people keep a strip or bottle within easy reach. What is a helpful, even essential, supplement for a person can be genuinely dangerous for a dog that gets into the bottle.

Common sources of excess iron

• Human iron tablets and prenatal or multivitamin supplements containing iron, especially sugar-coated tablets that dogs find palatable
• Iron-containing fertiliser
• Chemical hand warmers and oxygen absorber sachets, sometimes found in packaged food and dried snacks
• Large ingestions of iron-fortified pet food, though this is a much less common route

Why iron is so damaging in excess

Iron is essential in small amounts but directly corrosive to the stomach and intestinal lining in excess, and once absorbed into the bloodstream, it damages the liver, heart and nervous system, since dogs have no efficient way to eliminate an overload the way the body manages a normal, regulated iron intake.

The four stages of iron toxicity

Iron poisoning tends to unfold in stages, which can be deceptive since symptoms sometimes appear to improve before getting dramatically worse.

• Stage one, within the first six hours: vomiting, diarrhoea, possibly with blood, and abdominal pain
• Stage two, six to twenty-four hours: a deceptive period where the dog may appear to improve
• Stage three, later in the first day or two: the return of symptoms with liver damage, shock, and potentially bleeding disorders
• Stage four, over the following days to weeks in survivors: potential long-term scarring or narrowing of the gastrointestinal tract

What to do

If your dog has eaten iron tablets or supplements, contact your vet immediately with the number of tablets and their strength if you know it, even if your dog seems fine, since the deceptive improvement in stage two can lead owners to assume the danger has passed when it has not. Your vet will likely want to check blood iron levels and may take X-rays, since iron tablets are often visible on imaging. Treatment can include decontamination, intravenous fluids, and in more serious cases, chelation therapy to help remove iron from the bloodstream.

Prevention

Store personal iron supplements, along with any other tablets, in a cabinet rather than a bag or on a table where a dog can reach them. This applies doubly in households where anaemia is being treated with a regular course of iron tablets, since a full or partly used strip left on a bedside table is a common and entirely avoidable source of exposure.

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