Is there infestation of rats going to the extreme level? And you want to get rid of this problem by using rat poison? Then yes you have come to right place , let`s see ..
Rats are known to be prime suspects in the paths of many diseases communicable to human while gravitating to locations where a dense population of human beings can be found, accompanied by water and food sources.
It is a known fact that rats survive by rummaging, implying that they survive on consuming dead animal of eating materials readily available in the environment they are in. With the knack of human beings to be less careful about discarding waste food, it becomes easy for rats to find their way into to the gardens and homes.
Other than the conventional rat trap methods, rat poisoning has become one of the most effective and commonly used remedy to get rid of the unwanted rats. Rat poisons, also known as rodenticides refer to chemicals that are fatal to rodents. Typically, most of the toxic rat poison does not lead to the immediate death of rodents, depending on the variety and class of poison used.
The amount of time a rat poison takes to kill the animal varies with the category of the substance used. Basically, there are three different categories of rat poison, each having their own side effects and level of effectiveness.
Vitamin D derived poison works by aggravating the level of calcium in the blood of the rats. Resultant, it causes hypercalcemia which causes kidney and heart failure as blood vessels and organs mineralize. Usually, the poison of this category takes about 2-4 days to be fatal after ingestion.
Zinc Phosphide based rodenticides discharge phosphine gas which increases acid levels in the stomach. It takes less than a day to kill the rat after ingestion.
Initially developed in 1985, this chemical aims to kill in the first feeding. As a neurotoxin, this chemical immediately attacks the central nervous system causing paralysis, convulsions, and death. It takes less than hours for results to show.
Rodenticides are easily available for purchase. Many home improvement stores keep an extensive range of rat poison, including bait stations and traps. Other than that, grain stores, big-box retailers, hardware stores, farmer co-ops are also good sources for rodenticides. With the increasing trend of e-commerce, a wide range of online stores also sells different categories of rat poison. We have added some of the products you can find on Amazon.
It is significant to not underestimate the ability of your cat or dog to access the rodenticides baits which you have placed in seemingly out-of-reach, secure locations. It is a misconception that pets would not find or chew rat poisons. Every year, thousands of pets are reported to lose their lives after consuming rat poison. Zinc phosphide based rat poison in dogs has a 100% death rate. Both commercial and regular rat poisons are harmful to pets, causing internal bleeding. One of the most common emergency calls to veterinary clinics is based on “my dog ate rat poison”.
Realizing the need to protect pets, many chemical combinations have been tested and designed to be safe for humans and pets. Commercial rat poisons such as Eradibait is safe for non-rodents because of its composition. Its design capitalizes on the varying digestive system of rodents, causing dehydration, circulatory collapse and blood thickening.
Read what to do if your Dog ate rat poison
Other alternatives to pet safe rat poison is making a bottle of your own rodent poison at home. Many effective remedies, with a combination of a few ingredients, have proved to be fatal for rats, yet safe for your dog’s/pets. Following are some of the most effective rat poison ingredients you can try at home:
Method: Adding one tablespoon of each to a bowl. Sprinkle it around the areas rodents are likely to invade. Flour is one of the most popular pest remedies, and is known to suffocate the animal, causing it to run for a high oxygen environment.
Method: Rats love peanut butter. Yet, the combination of peanut butter with boric acid can be fatal for rats. Boric acid is a low toxic chemical which prevents your pets from harsh fumigation. Add an equal amount of boric acid and peanut butter, rolling them into small balls.
Method: Another effective home-made rat poisoning method is to combine equal amounts of dry cement and corn-flour. The combination of this two mixture induces unbearable thirst. Consumption of water ensures that the cement becomes hard, becoming an indigestible mass, causing thickening of blood in the stomach of the rat.
So far, we have discovered how injurious rat poison could be for pets. On the other hand, the majority of rodenticides use thallium sulfate and blood thinners as major rat poison ingredients. For human beings, the effects of these ingredients work much similarly to that of pets. The complexity of rat poison ingestion in human is that the discovery of symptoms takes about 24 hours. The effects of rat poison would not immediately show in human beings, implying that the period of immediate medical attention passes prior to the discovery of its needs.
The ingestion of rat poison causes sudden nose bleed which is mostly aggressive in nature. Furthermore, it also causes abnormal bruising and blood clotting near skin area, which is a rare symptom and difficult to be diagnosed as a symptom of rat poisoning.
Also read: Poison for squirrels
Vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea are all accompanied by rat poison ingestion. In several cases, diarrhea may also include abnormal bleeding. These symptoms appear immediately if a large dose of poison is consumed, however if a small amount is consumed, it may take a few days for symptoms to appear as aggressive as to be fatal.
The less common symptoms of rat poison ingestion in humans include fever, headache, anxiety, low blood pressure, blood in urine, lethargy, respiratory depression, tremors, seizures, itching, allergy, mood disturbances and moderate to severe abdominal pain.