[Achielles UD]

Some people in my obedience class last night brought up a question about cigarrete butts. Several had heard that feeding your puppy/dog or letting them eat cigarrete butts was a cure for some kind of worm?? I had never heard this and would never feed or let a dog eat them, but they asked the question so I told them I would do some asking around. Of course, regardless of whether it is true or not, I think there are much safer ways to get rid of worms in a dog than this and told them so. Just curious as to what others have heard and what the truth is on this possible myth?

 

[rlwolf]

Yuck... I've never heard of this. Although kinda funny looking back, Freyja used to dive bomb for cigarette butts when she was very little. I seriously think she was trying to get to it and swallow it before I noticed. She did this with both cigarette butts and poop.

I was constantly prying her mouth open and pulling them out

I had her broke of this nasty habit by the time she was 3 months, but she's the first dog I've ever had to teach to not eat them.

 

[Peet]

I have no idea where people get these crazy ideas...I mean, come on, think logically. I don't know what cigarette butts are made of (the filters, at least), but anyone should know and understand that it isn't healty to eat, and more so, it can't be a safe remedy for any parasite or worm, or whatever.

Yeah, if you kill the dog.....you will probably kill any possible parasites as well ....maybe that's the intended cure?

 

[ldpeterson]

I may have heard of it once from some "back-woods never take your dog to the vet" people I once knew.

I can't imagine even an idiot would think that was safe.

 

[Achielles UD]

Well I am pretty rural lol But for pete's sake ! As you say... even an idiot, I would think, would know not to do this.

People have some of the strangest ideas/notions. I wonder what got them thinking that this actually was a good thing to do?

 

[ldpeterson]

LOL, I didn't mean rural people. I wish I was one and didn't live in the "burbs".

I think you know the type I am talking about.

 

[DSudd]

We are just "rural" country folks LOL just kidding, we live in a country area and I really like our area.

I have never heard that, but we used to have a Chi and she used to chew on them if she got the chance, but that dog was strange.

 

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

http://whyquit.com/whyquit/A_Butts.html

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_nicotine_poisoning_in_pets.html

Answer 16: http://au.answers.yahoo.com/answers2/frontend.php/question?qid=20080207095127AA5rFgi

 

[Strana1]

This is from Cornell's website. I had heard of it being used in horses but never dogs.


http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/toxicagents/pyridine.html

Symptons of Poisoning
Nicotine
- acutely affects the nervous system by blocking autonomic ganglia and neuromuscular junctions. Livestock progress from:
excitement -->
shaking and twitching -->
rapid breathing -->
staggering -->
weakness and prostration -->
coma -->
descending paralysis of the central nervous system -->
to death by respiratory failure.
Anabasine
- Research indicates that anabasine is a teratogenic agent but nicotine is not.

Poisoning due to consumption of tobacco leaves and stalks has been documented in cattle, horses, sheep, and swine as well as dogs and even humans (after consuming the leaves as boiled greens). <span style="color: #CC0000">Nicotine was a popular old time wormer and insecticide that occasionally poisoned livestock as well as its intended target. </span>Swine will readily eat the soft pith of tobacco stalks and extreme care must be taken to keep them from gleaming tobacco fields or discarded stalks. Deformed offspring due to ingestion of the anabasine alkaloid in tobacco have been documented in cattle, sheep, and swine. These deformities are clinically the same as those caused by maternal consumption of lupine or poison hemlock (carpal flexure, cleft palates, arthrogryposis of the forelimbs and curvature of the spine). Wild and cultivated tobaccos contain some anabasine. However, @ 99% of the total alkaloid content of tree tobacco is anabasine.

 

[JakodaCD OA]

oh my gosh,,I have NEVER heard that! sheesh, and these people believed it?
diane

 

[LisaT]

Yep, if you look at some of the herbal dewormers and parasite cleanses, you will see tobacco in them. If someone is feeding cigarette butts -- I hope they are filterless!!

Just like many things, it's possible small amounts are beneficial, while large amounts are toxic.

 

[AbbyK9]

Yes, I have heard of this before.

I think that this goes back to prior to the turn of the century where farmers would use real powdered tobacco to work their large livestock, such as cows and pigs. I imagine that powdered tobacco then did not have all the chemicals and who knows what else that is in modern cigarettes - and I guess it worked for people back then.

I have never, ever heard of this method being used in dogs, only livestock. Even that aside, I don't think even the most backward person is using cigarettes to worm their livestock. Snuff, maybe. There's an article on worming with snuff (again, only for livestock!) in Mother Earth News (http://www.motherearthnews.com/) in the Sustainable Farming section.

 

[Lin]

Nicotine is a pesticide, so it makes sense. Not that its safe though! But I can see where the idea came from.

 

[3K9Mom]

Just what I need. A GSD amped on nicotine. He's not energized enough already?

Maybe he's like a Red Bull too?

{shakes head}