What can you do if your dog ate cooking grease by the boatload? You should realize that it may take your dog 2 to 3 days to recover, if the episode is mild. In severe cases, your dog may develop an abscess, which is a build-up of pus, in the pancreas that would require surgery. This is more likely to happen not only in small dogs breeds like miniature schnauzers, dachshund, poodles, Pekingese and cocker spaniels more prone to pancreatitis but also in larger dogs that have been fed a prolonged high-fat diet, are obese, suffer from hypothyroidism or diabetes and that take medications which tax their pancreas and the liver. In the worst case scenario, you may need to visit your veterinarian.
Your Dog Ate Cooking Grease and Now It’s Pancreatitis vs. Gastroenteritis
If you witness your dog suffering from constant vomiting, severe upper abdominal pain followed by pale yellowish and foul-smelling stool, these may be the result of a pancreatitis flare-up resulting from indulging too much in greasy food. Accurate diagnosis requires blood work and possibly x-rays.
The pancreas regulates blood sugar and helps the dog digest food. Too much grease all at once can overwhelm the pancreas, causing it to swell which brings a condition called pancreatitis. A processed food diet and one high in vegetable fat will tend to cause this inflammation of the pancreas in your dog.
By contrast, feeding your dog watermelon, apples, carrots, and small pieces of cooked chicken, pig or beef with a moderate amount of carbohydrates will reduce the potential for a more common condition called gastroenteritis, which is the inflammation of the dog’s stomach or small intestine that too much grease in the diet may also trigger.
Your dog’s indiscretion drinking cooking grease or suddenly eating oil in excess may cause its gastrointestinal tract to have an adverse reaction. Your dog will vomit, lose appetite, have greasy diarrhea and suffer from abdominal pain for a day or so, remaining lethargic while its digestive system attempts to process all the excess grease. It is imperative, however, that if you see blood in the stool you take your dog immediately to the vet, as this is a sign of acute gastroenteritis requiring medical intervention. Aggressive treatment of hemorrhagic (bleeding) pancreatitis or gastroenteritis may prevent sudden death.
Since your dog’s natural system will attempt to clean itself out of all the superfluous fat it consumed, it is unlikely that your dog will eat anything for some time, though it may seek to hydrate itself, especially if it has been regularly vomiting and defecating. So, keep fresh water nearby. Consider too that some vegetable oils, such as palm oil, though not toxic for dogs will have a laxative effect, facilitating the purge.
Are There Medications For Dogs That Eat Too Much Grease?
You may be tempted to give your dog antacids like Pepto Bismol or Imodium. Instead, according basic veterinary advice on the subject, you can start your dog on a low doses of Pepcid AC (famotidine) or Zantac (ranitidine), half a tablet of 10 mg. once every 12 hours for the space of 2 to 3 days. These are medications that you can buy over-the-counter and they serve to decreases stomach acid production in your dog.
Abstain from feeding your dog any dog food for 8 to 12 hours, since its gastrointestinal tract needs time to heal, keeping the dog comfortably indoors in a cool place while it fasts. Offer the dog a small amount of water or, better yet, Pedialyte, Gatorade or apple juice diluted 50:50 in the water, after half a day of rest, waiting half an hour to witness whether there is further vomiting. For a dog 35 lbs. or lighter, this means making 1 cup of fluid available per hour.
Next, if the dog is up to it, give it very small and bland meals consisting of half rice and half boiled boneless chicken or some other low-fat protein. Limit it to 2 to 3 tablespoons every 3 to 4 hours a day, maintaining this pace until you see your dog’s appetite return, when you’ve embarked the dog on a new dietary direction. If your dog’s health does not soon return and you believe it may have ingested something toxic which was not vegetable oil or animal grease itself, then contact Pet Poison Control or visit your vet immediately.
What If The Grease Causes Bloat?
Dealing with bloat is not like treating a mild cut on a dog. Bloat can kill your dog. Even while dogs are omnivores, eating plants and meats alike, not everything they eat is good for them, especially if your dog ate cooking grease like a pig. The presence of any foreign object in the stomach may cause bloat in a dog, especially if it’s an older pooch or it belongs to a sizable breed that has large chests and narrow waits, like Akitas, Rottweilers, German shepherds, Great Danes, pit bulls, Irish settler, St. Bernards and Labrador Retrievers. Even Chihuahuas and dachshunds can be affected by bloat because of their physiology.
A stomach filled with gas becomes distended, known as gastric dilatation, and could even twist itself if the dog becomes too active after eating, a condition called volvulus. These two conditions could stop the flow of blood in the dog leading to shock and ultimate death, if not immediately treated by pumping the dog’s stomach through a process known as intubation.
If Your Dog Ate Cooking Grease Excessively Will This Lead To Bloat?
Because greasy food may reduce the rate of digestion, the stomach will not empty as quickly. This in turn may lead to a bloated stomach. It is conceivable that a dog of a breed predisposed to bloating may consume so much grease all at once that this may also slow down whatever digestive process it was already undergoing thereby leading to bloat, that would endanger its own life because of gastric dilatation and volvulus (GDV), which causes the dog’s diaphragm to compressed until the dog slowly suffocates.
Also, as food trapped in a twisted stomach ferments and gas is unable to exit, cell damage to the lining of the stomach becomes irreparable as the tissue necrotizes – basically, it dies and cannot be repaired again. Bloat can be fatal in only a matter of hours to your pet.
So, if you witness your dog’s stomach enlarge and harden, if you see it out of place and you cannot see your dog defecate or hear further sounds of digestion, or if you see your dog heaving and struggling to breathe, vomiting mucus and showing signs of anxiety or restlessness, rush your pet immediately to the vet’s emergency window! The grease and food your dog ate cannot be evacuated and your dog needs urgent care in as little as 2 to 3 hours lest it dies. Don’t think twice about it. If you suspect bloat, act now!