Tizme Times: What to do for toxin overload

Resharing the need and use of Charcoal.

The time my own Tiz got into the compost bin! The scavenging little monkey!

And ate a good helping ot Raw potato peelings.

Unfortunately, potato peelings contain solanine and chaconine, two glycoalkaloids that can lead to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, gastrointestinal irritation, skin issues, and can adversely affect the liver and kidneys.

Initially, I thought Tiz was suffering from a minor stomach bug, especially when she showed all the typical symptoms. However, when her pooh turned a gross brownish-red this signals a bit of liver distress, and then she vomited undigested potato peelings so it was pretty obvious what she had been up to.

Now the glycoalkaloids in raw potato peelings become more potent in higher temperatures, and the Costa Rican sun definitely did this.

To counteract potato peeling toxicity, I gave Tiz 2-3 teaspoons of activated charcoal wrapped. Activated charcoal is highly effective in absorbing toxins, making it a fabulous first aid treatment. It is given by vets world wide for cane toad poisoning, which is common in our area.

For me it is a product I use only sporadically, it is so effective at pulling bacteria it can also negatively effect gut flora. It may be indicated for animals with gut flora dysbiosis but only short term as it can pull all the good bacteria too.

Thankfully, Tiz improvement within 24 hours. The vomiting and diarrhea stopped, and was back to 70% improved within a few hours of taking it.

Activated charcoal is an invaluable addition to anyone's tool kit, especially good for dealing with toxin overload, its a great first-line defense in some pet toxicity cases.

The same applies to horses and dogs if they have begin licking and eating common charcoal from an old fire or perhaps digging at the ground to release some clays or chalk that might chelate a toxin.

Toxin overload is scary to deal with and does rely on some knowledge of what has been ingested, it was only because she actually chundered some peeling that i knew for sure what it was. But other times you might find charcoal useful include

1) When your animal has picked up a gastrointestinal bug from food or dirty swampy water, or the bin!

2. **Poisoning:** In cases of poisoning, such as antifreeze (common in cats), ratpoison, or other poisonous substances, activated charcoal may be used as part of the immediate 1st aid emergency protocol to help absorb the poison while your on the way to your vets. 

3. **Diarrhea:** It can be used to help manage diarrhea by absorbing irritants or bacteria causing the gastrointestinal upset.

4. **Bad Breath:** Sometimes used to help combat bad breath in dogs, as it can absorb some of the compounds that contribute to this. It is used in toothpaste products frequently.

5 **Detoxification:** Activated charcoal can support detoxification by absorbing toxins from the dog's system. Including heavy metals

Charcoal really is a wonderful product  to be used respectfully and with care. always one i have on hand and excellent in some emergency situations.