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My dog ate a rat. Should I worry about rat poison? What to do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | French Bulldog | Male | neutered | 1 year and 4 months old | 22 lbs

I found a dead rat when I arrived home this evening. It had been killed and partially eaten by one or possibly 2 of my French bulldogs. I am afraid the rat had eaten some Ramik bar bait poison that had been put out 2 years ago and forgotten about. We have since then gotten our dogs. Is there anything I can/should do for the dogs. Neither of them are showing any signs of being ill. What should I look for?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Melanie, BVSc MS

Veterinarian

Published on December 17th, 2019

It can take up to four days for signs of rat bait poisoning to appear, and by then the dog is extremely sick. If you think this rat had gotten into rat bait, the best thing to do for your dogs is to take them into a vet immediately for treatment.

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