Gorilla Glue and Dogs

I found articles as old as 4 years, so it's been a problem for a while. Gorilla Glue may not be toxic, but it is still deadly.

We had a cute little Shiba Inu that was recovering from abdominal surgery after consuming the offending sticky stuff. This stuff expands up to 10 TIMES when it hits water then hardens into a substance that can be hit with a hammer and not break! Saturday when the little dog came in the xray showed a large mass in its stomach that had to be surgically removed.

The owner had been working on a craft project and forgot to put it away afterwards. From what I can find on the net the glue tastes like peanuts and maple syrup (yuck!) and pets (especially cats!) find it quite palatable.

The stomach fluids act as water causing the glue to expand 3 to 4 and up to 10 times the amount consumed during the first hour after consumption. Then it hardens, completely blocking normal intestinal movement. Resulting in a very sick pet, vomiting being the most obvious along with irritation of the mouth, skin and stomach lining.

Two things puzzle me:
1. Why doesn't the company change the flavor of the glue? It wouldn't eliminate the problem 100% but it may decrease the chances of animal interest.

2. Why does it say on their website that it may cause intestinal blockage but the MSDS (updated 1/07) only states that it may cause severe GI irritation? Our clients didn't know it would cause a blockage and the vet said that the only thing on the bottle is that it may cause irritation. I think the difference between a GI blockage and irritation is pretty danged significant and should be on the bottle.

Here's a 2004 article with pictures of an article put up by a veterinary medical center regarding one of their own patients that had the same misfortune after eating gorilla glue. Check it out.

The Shiba Inu went home on Tuesday and is recovering beautifully, btw. :-)