If you give alcohol to dogs the outcome certainly cannot be positive. We know that our four-legged friends usually smell, touch and lick everything that is edible and within reach of a paw: however, watch out for harmful foods or drinks!
Surely the image of Fido sitting in front of the fireplace sipping his glass of wine and reading his novel can be fine in a Hollywood film, certainly not in reality!
What happens if I give alcohol to a dog?
Are you wondering what happens if a dog drinks alcohol? The answer is simple: of course yes drunk! The speech is the same that applies to humans, the effects of alcohol are mainly related to the animal’s body weight.
Of course, a few licks will never be lethal for Fido, also because dogs certainly don’t like alcohol, it’s not a taste their palate is used to. The main problem is foods (especially sweets) containing alcohol.
Let’s imagine our dog in the same room with a rum-soaked cake, the outcome can only be one: Fido will eat it all. In this case the amount of alcohol ingested will be high and there is a risk of ethanol poisoning.
Symptoms of ethanol intoxication
Remember that time you exaggerated with toasts on New Year’s Eve? Do you remember how it felt? Well the effect of alcohol on dogs is pretty much the same, the difference is that much less is needed.
Although a drunken dog may seem like a funny image, the situation could become very serious.
The first signs are a radical behavioral change: our dog will alternate moments of excitement with moments of lethargy. Lack of coordination and purposeless behaviors will be clear signs of alcohol intoxication. This will be followed by:
- polyuria (unina a lot);
- bradycardia;
- dyspnea;
- hypothermia;
- polydipsia.
This clinical picture should only suggest one thing to us: contact the vet.
What do I do if my dog has been drinking alcohol?
The first suggestion that any veterinarian could provide is first of all to remain calm and secondly to try to induce the He retched. Remember that booze-soaked sponge cake?
If Fido ate it and you noticed it (or if the dog drinks alcohol) you just have to try to make him regurgitate it. This could be a decisive move as the absorption of nutrients from any food is not immediate, it takes some time.
For this reason, making the dog vomit could expel the potential disturbing element, preventing the onset of symptoms.
What is bad about alcohol for dogs?
Ethanol! All alcoholic beverages contain this molecule which, once it enters the circulation, is active on the nervous system causing a pleasant initial symptomatology commonly known as drunkenness.
In proportion to the alcohol ingested (and therefore to the ethanol) the symptoms will be more or less serious.
To get an idea of the effects of an alcoholic drink on a dog, it will be enough to consult the so-called alcohol content, a 10-degree drink will have 10% alcohol: the higher the alcohol content, the lower the quantity required for intoxication.
Alcohol to dogs and effects on the nervous system
If a dog drinks alcohol, it takes a liquid or a solid orally that will reach the stomach. At this point digestion will take care of breaking down the molecules into basic nutritional elements including ethanol.
The latter will be put into the circulation together with other bioelements and through the circulation will reach the brain: the central nervous system.
At the level of the brain this molecule competes with i neurotransmitters affecting its functionality. The latter are the mediators of the nerve impulses which, upon receiving a stimulus, cause a reaction.
When the functioning of the neurotransmitters is altered by ethanol, the responses of the subject to a stimulus can be exaggerated or null: in short, a serious situation!
From incoordination to coma: don’t underestimate the ingestion of alcohol
If a dog drinks alcohol and the amount ingested is minimal we won’t have major problems apart from some funny movements and a nice nap.
If the quantity ingested, on the other hand, is significant, we could witness a sudden worsening of our dog’s condition.
After the symptomatology previously described, the subject could pass from lethargy, to collapse, to coma up to death.
The exit is caused by depression of the respiratory centers and nerves that block the respiratory muscles effectively preventing the dog from breathing. Symptoms generally appear a few hours after ingestion, because absorption is very fast.
How to help a dog that has been drinking alcohol?
The first attempt to make when a dog drinks alcohol is to induce vomiting. In the event that too much time has passed since the intake and the symptoms have already become evident and the dog’s conditions progressively worsen, we just have to call the vet.
The latter won’t have a drug suitable for the situation but he will certainly be able to support, monitor and assist our dog to avoid the worst. Usually we proceed with a artificial control from the breathing waiting for the body to absorb, metabolize and eliminate the excess ethanol.
If we intervene in time, the prognosis is favorable and the only regret will be that of never having tasted that delicious sponge cake!