Warning calcipotriene is toxic to dogs!
1
Posted Mon 30 Apr 2012 10.55 by susan191052
Calves elbows 7 scalp particularly affected
We have unfortunately discovered that calcipotriene is potentially lethal to dogs. Our young Sringer Spaniel managed to pinch a tube of Dovonex an must have eaten about 80g. She was OK to start with then had diarrhoea (the liquid paraffin at work) she then became very subdued. The vets first thought that there was nothing in it to cause a problem after talking to the toxins agency but then discovered that calcipotriene caused mineralisation in the vascular systems in dogs. Our pup has been in hospital for a week and has been flushed out with diuretecs and blood tests & x-rays regularly taken to check for calcification in the kidneys. She has had 24 hour nursing (the bill is likely to be over £4000) the survival rate is pretty grim but Bella seems to be doing ok. This is only the 5th case registered in the UK. So, if you have dogs keep such ointments well out of reach (we thought it was but obviously not....
2
Posted Sun 20 May 2012 00.57 by michaelswims (edited Tue 27 May 2014 13.26 by michaelswims)
Yes
Thanks for the heads up on this. So sorry to hear about Bella. I hope she makes a full recovery.
Posted Fri 27 Nov 2020 22.35 by Bazztazz
I came here to say the same thing. It’s extremely toxic to dogs and apparently tastes nice to them. Our 4 month old dachshund ate around 10g of my dovonex and was very ill, requiring 24hr care and after a week of constant treatment and IVs is just starting to stabilise. It’s cost around £2000 so far and that will probably double by the end.
If it does happen you can mitigate the worst of it by acting quickly and getting the vet to flush it out of their digestive system before it’s fully absorbed. The huge amount of vitamin D contained in calcipotriene causes calcium to be released from the bones and other store so calcium levels can continue to rise for days even with treatment if the digestive system isn’t flushed immediately.
Tell your vet to contact the poison advice people or they may not do it until symptoms worsen, this costs £60 but is worth it. Also there is a medicine which can help called pamindronate, it binds calcium in the bones and so helps prevent it being released into the blood and causing soft tissue mineralisation.
I feel like they should put a warning on the label as dogs are such a common pet and seem drawn to this ointment.
Posted Sat 28 Nov 2020 13.35 by OhNo_NotAgain? (edited Tue 1 Dec 2020 14.47 by OhNo_NotAgain?)
Keep ALL medications and ointments, and household cleaning products where pets and children CANNOT get to them.
Do people REALLY need warnings (that most people do not bother to read) on all such items?
For example, should all chocolate confectionary carry warning labels that it is poisonous to dogs? (and also to cats in fact).
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