Mouldy food and rotting compost can contain substances that cause sudden muscle tremors, unsteadiness and seizures in dogs, often within one to three hours. This is a genuine emergency. If your dog has raided a compost heap or bin and is shaking, wobbling or twitching, phone an emergency veterinary hospital straight away.
Why autumn is the season for this
Abbotsford spends September doing three things at once. The fruit comes down, the garden gets cut back, and the rain starts. All three feed the same hazard.
Certain moulds that grow on decomposing food produce compounds that act directly on the nervous system. They are not spread evenly through the pile. They concentrate in patches, which is why one dog can raid a compost heap and be fine while the next mouthful from the same heap causes a serious problem.
The mould grows best in exactly the conditions Abbotsford provides from mid-September: damp, mild, and with a steady supply of fresh organic material. Grass clippings, windfall apples and plums, corn husks, bread, pasta, cheese rinds, nuts and coffee grounds are all common sources.
The other thing autumn changes is opportunity. Bins come out for garden waste. Compost gets turned. Fruit lies under trees for days. Dogs that have walked past the same corner all summer suddenly find something worth investigating.
Where dogs find it around Abbotsford
- Open or loosely lidded compost bins and heaps
- Garden waste piles awaiting collection
- Windfall fruit left under trees, especially once it has gone soft and brown
- Household bins raided indoors, particularly bread, cheese and leftovers
- Bins and dumpsters behind shops and cafes on a walk
- Discarded food in park bins and along field edges
- Nuts and seeds left on the ground under trees through a wet spell
- Grain and feed stores on rural properties that have got damp
Dogs who scavenge on walks and dogs left unsupervised in the garden are the two groups we see most often. Puppies and adolescent dogs are heavily over-represented, for reasons every owner of one will recognise.
What the signs look like, and how fast
The tempo of this one is what surprises people. Signs often appear within thirty minutes to three hours, and they can escalate quickly.
- Fine muscle tremors, often starting at the head and face
- Whole-body shaking that does not settle when the dog rests
- Wobbliness, a drunken gait, or difficulty standing
- Restlessness, pacing, and an inability to settle
- Exaggerated startle response to sound or touch
- Vomiting, drooling or retching
- Raised body temperature, often from the muscle activity itself
- Seizures in more severe cases
The tremors are the signature. A dog that is shaking but not cold, not frightened and not wet is a dog worth phoning about immediately. Owners frequently describe it as their dog looking anxious or shivery, and that description is easy to under-rate at home.
Raised temperature from sustained tremoring is one of the reasons this becomes dangerous. The shaking itself generates heat, and a dog can overheat indoors on a mild autumn day.
What to do right now
If you think your dog has eaten mouldy food or been into compost, and especially if any tremor has started:
- Phone an emergency veterinary hospital immediately. Do not wait to see whether it settles. Time genuinely matters here.
- Take the source with you if you safely can. A photo of the compost heap, the bin contents or the packaging tells us more than a description.
- Note the timing. When did they eat it, when did the first sign appear, and roughly how much. Write it down, because it is easy to lose track once you are worried.
- Keep things quiet and cool. Dim the lights, turn off the television, and keep handling to a minimum. Noise and stimulation can worsen tremoring.
- Do not offer food or water to a dog that is unsteady or tremoring, because swallowing is not reliable in that state.
- Do not try to make your dog vomit at home. A dog that is already tremoring or wobbly is at real risk of inhaling stomach contents, which turns one problem into two. Let us make that decision.
If you are unsure whether what you are seeing counts as an emergency, our guide to when to visit an emergency vet in Abbotsford covers the wider set of situations. Tremors after scavenging belong firmly on that list.
What happens when you arrive
Our team will take you through quickly, because a tremoring dog is triaged as urgent. The first priority is stabilising: controlling the tremor activity, protecting the airway, bringing the temperature down if it has risen, and supporting the dog while the substance works its way out of the system.
Alongside that, pet diagnostics help us understand what we are dealing with and rule out the other causes of tremors and seizures, which include several unrelated toxins, low blood sugar and neurological disease. Bloodwork tells us how the liver and kidneys are coping and guides fluid support.
Most dogs need to stay with us rather than go home the same hour, because signs can persist and can come back as the substance redistributes. Our medical services team monitors through that period. The general picture for dogs who arrive promptly is a good one, which is the strongest argument for phoning early rather than watching and waiting.
Preventing the next one
- Lock the compost. A sealed tumbler or an enclosed bin with a fastening lid, not an open heap. This is the single highest-value change.
- Clear windfall daily. Soft brown fruit under a tree is a compost heap that has not been tidied.
- Fence it off. If the heap has to stay open, fence the dog out of that part of the garden entirely.
- Secure indoor bins. A pedal bin is not dog-proof. Use a cupboard or a heavy lidded bin.
- Watch the walk. A basket muzzle is a reasonable, kind tool for a committed scavenger, and it lets the dog walk more freely rather than less.
- Bag garden waste promptly rather than letting piles sit through a wet week.
- Store feed sealed on rural properties, and discard any that has gone damp.
Frequently asked questions
My dog ate compost an hour ago but seems completely fine. Do I still call?
Yes, please call. Signs commonly take one to three hours to appear, so a normal-looking dog at the one hour mark tells you very little. A phone call lets us judge the risk from what was eaten and how much, and it means you are not making that assessment alone at home.
How much do they need to eat for it to matter?
Less than owners expect, and it depends far more on which patch they got than on the volume. The mould is unevenly distributed, so a few mouthfuls from a bad patch can matter more than a larger amount of relatively clean material. Do not use quantity to reassure yourself.
Is mouldy bread really a problem, or is that an exaggeration?
It is a real one. Bread, pasta, cheese and nuts left to go mouldy are among the more common sources we see, and they are also the ones most likely to be raided indoors from a kitchen bin rather than outdoors from a heap.
My dog is shaking. How do I tell tremors from being cold or frightened?
Cold and fear shaking usually settles when the trigger is removed, when the dog is wrapped up, warm and calm. Tremors from a toxin persist regardless, often worsen with noise or handling, and are frequently accompanied by unsteadiness. If shaking does not settle within a few minutes in a warm quiet room, phone us.
Can cats get this too?
Far less often, because cats are much more selective about what they eat and rarely raid compost. It is not impossible, though, and the same signs apply. A tremoring or wobbly cat is always an emergency regardless of cause.
How long does it take to recover?
Many dogs improve substantially within a day or two with prompt support, though some need longer and a small number have a harder course. Recovery depends heavily on how quickly the dog was seen and how severe the signs became, which is exactly why the early phone call carries so much weight.
Speak to the team at Abby Veterinary Hospital and Emergency
If your dog has been into compost or mouldy food, do not wait to see what happens. Phone us now.
Published by the team at Abby Veterinary Hospital and Emergency.
This article is for general educational purposes only and is not a substitute for an in-person veterinary examination or advice about your individual pet. If you have an urgent concern about your pet, contact Abby Veterinary Hospital and Emergency or your nearest emergency veterinary hospital right away.
Abby Veterinary Hospital and Emergency
Unit C, 2388 McCallum Rd, Abbotsford, BC V2S 3P4
Phone: (604) 969-0911
Email: info.abbyer@gmail.com
Hours: Everyday 12 am to 8 am, and 12 pm to 12 am