Who will not love having a loyal four-footed friend? Raising a dog is fun, but at the same time, uplifting a dog throws up challenges. Maintaining the health of the dog is one of the substantial challenges. Seeing your dog suffering from any health issue is such a nightmare. Unfortunately, dogs are not selective when it comes to their eating habit. They try to eat and sniff most of the things around them.

There are many harmful things that not only got your dog`s attention but also they crave for them. Feminine hygiene products are one of them. Dogs are overzealous to eat and sniff feminine hygiene products like sanitary pads and tampons.

Dogs are unaware of the potential damage caused by eating tampons. This weird nature of the dogs causes many life-threatening issues. Many reasons make your dog addicted to tampons. The following are the reasons why your dog loves to eat tampons, and what measures you should take to avoid this condition. And if unfortunately, this condition prevails, what can you do for treatment?

Why do Dogs Eat Tampons?

If you ever have a dog, you might have an experience that dogs love to be at the garbage side. They love to dispose of the rubbish bin, and from there, they consume several unhealthy products like tampons, pads, diapers. You must be thinking about why dogs consume these products? there are two main reasons why dogs eat tampons:

  • Everyone is aware of the scavenging nature of the dos, they are gifted with the strong senses of smell and taste. They try to sniff and taste every new thing around them. For dogs, tampons are forbidden candy but dogs love to consume them. When dogs lick the tampons, they like the taste of blood and the feel of cotton.
  • As we said, earlier dogs have a strong sense of smell, foul smells are their favorite. So, the major reasons that make dog addict of tampons, is the particular smell of human blood. Any product from the genitals of a human contains high-level pheromones. Pheromones give out a specific smell. This smell is incredibly tempting for the dogs.

Dogs’ craving is not limited to human tampons. They also love to expose sanitary pads, diapers, condoms, and many different types of bio-wastes.

As dogs are carnivores so, blood on the tampons might not affect dogs much. But, the material used in the tampons Is hell for the dogs. Now, let’s see which is the potential element in the tampon that is deadly for dogs?

Which Material in the Tampon is Harmful to the Dog?

As described, tampons cause intestinal blockage. The blockage causes harmful gases and waste substances to accumulate in the body. These injurious substances cause poisoning. The symptom of poisoning doesn’t appear instantly. It usually takes 2-3 days. There are following some common symptoms of poisoning.

Dioxin

Tampons contain an element called dioxin. Dioxin is one of the most harmful components of the tampon; it is a lethal element for dogs. Dioxin causes developmental and reproductive problems in dogs; it also damages the immune system. Although the lethal limit of the dioxin is not known, even a little amount can cause potential damage.

Artificial Fibers

Tampons are made up of artificial fibers. When dogs ingest tampons, these artificial fibers disintegrate in their stomach, and the tiny bits of the fiber gets stuck in various tissues. These fibers go into the intestine and cause blockage there.

Glyphosate

Glyphosate is another harmful chemical in tampons. Glyphosate in dogs causes altered cardiac activity, hypersalivation, anorexia, vomiting, and diarrhea. A low level of glyphosate is enough to make your active dog a dull boy.

Is Used Tampon more Dangerous to Dogs?

Most people think that used tampons are more harmful than the new ones. Well, that’s a myth. As we described above, blood is not much injurious to dogs. Although it must be a painful experience for the dog to consume any kind of tampon, the condition would be worse in the case of the unused tampon.

dog eating garbage

Tampons are made of cotton. Used tampons are already distended with blood. When dogs ingest them, they don’t swell much. But when dogs ingest unused tampons, they swell and extend more because of the saliva of the dog.

When a dog ingests a tampon, it goes directly into its digestive tract. In the case of small dogs, tampons can even be stuck at the esophageal and cardiac grove and can cause instant death. But in the case of large dogs, tampons travel smoothly to the stomach. By the normal peristalsis movement, these tampons are taken to the intestines. In some cases, tampons are popped out with the feces, but on the contrary, tampons can get stuck in the intestine and block the intestine.

Experiencing a block in the intestine is the most painful experience for the dogs. In the block, dogs become unable to expel gases and fecal materials. The harmful gases and waste material continues to gather in the body and stomach and causes toxicity. During this condition, your dog can also face organ damage.

Small-sized dogs have smaller intestine. So, they are more likely to experience a block, as compared to large dogs. Large dogs can easily pope out tampons with the feces. But the medical assistance is required in both cases.

What are the symptoms of poisoning?

As described, tampons cause intestinal blockage. The blockage causes harmful gases and waste substances to accumulate in the body. These injurious substances cause poisoning. The symptom of poisoning doesn’t appear instantly. It usually takes 2-3 days. There are following some common symptoms of poisoning:

  • Severe abdominal pain (a chronic pain turns into acute)
  • Loss of appetite
  • Restlessness
  • Lethargy
  • Vomiting
  • Snacking lips
  • Depression
  • Constipation

If the intestinal blockage is left unchecked, it can even cause death. There are several other symptoms caused by these chemicals. Like dioxin causes long-term effects on the reproductive tract. There are not instant symptoms. But, severe long-term damages are present.

How to treat a dog that ate Tampon?

Now the question arises what should you do immediately if you got to know about your dogs` tampon consumption. As we describe that the symptoms of the poisoning develop steadily, initially dogs look fine. The owner starts to take the situation casually. They think tampon hasn’t caused any effect. That`s wrong, after you got to know about dogs` tampon consumption, you need to consult a veterinarian as soon as possible.

The vet will analyze the situation and then he/she will recommend further proceedings according to the situation. If the tampon is still in the upper digestive tract, vets usually use emetic drugs to induce vomiting. During vomiting, tampon came out. But keep it in mind, do not ever try to give emetic drugs at home. Inappropriate consumption of anti-emetics can cause severe complications. In this case, after the procedure, you should provide the dog with supportive treatment.

However, if the tampon has passed the upper digestive tract, then you are in a problem. In this case, the vet might pass an endoscope tube from the mouth of your dog to its stomach, to diagnose the exact location of the tampon. If the vet found an engorged tampon far away from the reach, then he might prefer surgery. In the case of surgery, it is crucial to adopt post-operative care. Make sure to keep the wound clean after the surgery to avoid any complications. You can use an antiseptic solution for this. Take the doctors` advice regarding the diet of the dog. Do not forget to provide supportive therapy to your dog to ensure its early recovery.

How to prevent dogs from eating tampons?

If you are a pet parent, then this point is most important for you. As is said prevention is better than treatment. Preventing your dog is better than bearing the pain you got in the latter condition. There are five things you can do to prevent your dog from eating tampons:

  • Wherever you keep tampons, no matter, the used or unused makes that corner unattractive for the dog. You can use nasty flavor spray or anti-chew spray for this purpose. It will help to keep your dog away from personal items.
  • Used tampons are usually placed in the rubbish bin. Make sure to keep your dog away from the rubbish bin.
  • Fulfill the dietary requirement of the dog. Dogs usually scavenge material when they are hungry. So, make sure to provide them with an adequate amount of food. So, they do not eat any life-threatening substance.
  • You can train your dog to avoid this condition. Training helps the dog to develop behavior to avoid eating unfamiliar things.
  • You can also replace traditional rubbish bins with trash cans. Trashcans have lids on them, and usually, dogs are unable to open them.

A continuous skeptical approach can save your dog from eating harmful substances. Make sure to follow all the above points if you want to save your dog from deadly poisoning.

Conclusion

The curious scavenging nature of the dog makes them face several unwanted conditions. Sometimes this habit annoys their owners. If you are a pet parent, then make sure to keep personal hygiene items away from the reach of your dog.

In case you face any unfortunate condition, then do not start self-medication instead seek veterinarian help as soon as possible. After the diagnosis and treatment, make sure to follow all the guidelines given by the vet to ensure a speedy recovery of your dog.