Dog cornered a rat - advice.

[MissSBird]

Hey all,

It's late so cutting a long story short - my dog cornered a rat in the bushes at the corner of our garden tonight. He's not a hunting breed and his body language seemed more curious about it than actually trying to kill/catch. Couldn't get to the rat very easily, but I did spot blood on it so pretty confident that it is injured - perhaps prior to Lui discovering it, perhaps not.

Have checked him over as thoroughly as I can (mountain dog double layered coat doesn't make this easy) and I can see no sign of bites nor blood anywhere. He's fully utd on his vaccinations (were actually done yesterday).

Obviously if he shows any signs of ill health I'll be straight to the vet with him, but I was wondering if I should take him tomorrow regardless? Not sure there's much for the vet to do without an actual wound, but maybe there's a shot or something he should be getting. Have never had him nor my previous dog in this situation before, so any advice would be welcome and google is not being helpful!

Please feel free to tell me I'm panicking over nothing; I'm a panicky sort it wouldn't be the first time! But better safe than sorry!

 

[Spring Feather]

We don't have rats here on our farm but we do have raccoons and chipmunks which can also give nice nips to dogs; not mine though as they are swift killers and nothing that shouldn't be on my farm survives for long once my dogs get a whiff that they are on the property. It's never occurred to me to take any of my dogs to the vets after they've killed a critter.

 

[Moomin1]

Your best bet for peace of mind is just give your vet a quick call in morning. I am sure there will be nothing to worry unduly about.

 

[madmav]

Understand your concern, but from my probably useless corner, reckon nothing to worry about. Hope all ok tomorrow.

 

[D66]

Our terrier gets rats and squirrels regularly. She sometimes needs a bath to get rid of the blood (not hers), but there's no need for the vet unless you can see a bite.

 

[MissSBird]

Ok, thank you everyone for stopping my panic. Needless to say when I left the house this morning I got a look of 'it's too early', a roll over on his bed, and ignored, so he seems none the worse for his adventure.

 

[ChesnutsRoasting]

I wouldn't be concerned. The rat was already injured. If your dog had been bitten, you would know it.

 

[zoelouisem]

My old terrier used to get rats all the time, she got bitten once in 15 years on the lip. I rang the vet then and they said to clean it up. But wasn't fussed about her coming in, there was nothing they could give her unless the bite got infected then antibiotics. So I wouldn't worry to much.

 

[Copperpot]

Nothing to worry about. Had a young dog bitten by a rat and all was fine. Just a little swelling.

 

[Overread]

I'll echo the others - unless you can see any visible bites or marks on your dog he should be fine. The only times you should consider going to the vet after such an incident are:

1) If there are significant injuries to your dog (rats are nasty fighters and can, if given the right situation and possibly a less experienced or smaller dog, do some damage).

2) If there are smaller injuries that, after a few days are not healing well or if your dog shows signs of infection. More likely than point 1, but still most times your dog will recover cuts and scrapes without problem

3) If you or a land owner is nearby using rat poison - and then only if your dog manages to eat part/all of the rat in question. If you see any part of the fight or the rat you can sometimes tell if they are poisoned because they'll be slower and act very stupid (almost like they are drunk).
Shouldn't be a problem if your dog doesn't eat the rat.

 

[Orangehorse]

I'll echo the others - unless you can see any visible bites or marks on your dog he should be fine. The only times you should consider going to the vet after such an incident are:

1) If there are significant injuries to your dog (rats are nasty fighters and can, if given the right situation and possibly a less experienced or smaller dog, do some damage).

2) If there are smaller injuries that, after a few days are not healing well or if your dog shows signs of infection. More likely than point 1, but still most times your dog will recover cuts and scrapes without problem

3) If you or a land owner is nearby using rat poison - and then only if your dog manages to eat part/all of the rat in question. If you see any part of the fight or the rat you can sometimes tell if they are poisoned because they'll be slower and act very stupid (almost like they are drunk).
Shouldn't be a problem if your dog doesn't eat the rat.

I just noticed this, and agree totally with the above. My terrier is now a terror to the local rat population, manages to kill several every week, but she had to learn how to kill them quickly, it took her a while to get it right. And she just kills them, never tries to eat them.