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  1. #1
    House Broken swanska's Avatar
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    Packing Peanut Caution

    I received a package the other day. After emptying the package of the product, I stashed the box with the packing peanuts (or noodles) in a closet until I had time to take it to the basement for my re-use collection. Unfortunately, the door didn’t close all of the way and “someone” decided to investigate.

    Shadow was making some odd noises…I looked over and saw these white globs attached to his muzzle. I recognized them as the packing peanuts and pulled them off – they were stuck wherever there was moisture from his lips. Then I realized he was coughing. I pried open his jaw and scooped out a large gummy mass. There were probably six peanuts partially dissolved into a syrupy gummy glob the consistence of soft-ball candy. I had to reach my finger down his throat to scoop some more white goop out. He finally stopped coughing. I had to scrape his gums off as well. I was scared that he’d actually gotten some down into his stomach and poured some hydrogen peroxide down to make him throw up. Nothing but his just-eaten dinner came up – thank goodness.

    I then decided recycling wasn’t worth my dog’s life and dumped all of the peanuts into a plastic bag and ran out to the trash with it.

    So, please recognize that these packing peanuts are evidently attractive and tasty to dogs and because they are now made of a formula (I think it is corn starch???) that makes them dissolve they could be very dangerous when consumed by animals.

  2. #2
    Senior Dog katALlabs's Avatar
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    I hate when we get a package that has peanuts in them, they are messy and go everywhere.
    The biodegradable packing peanuts are Non-Toxic , actually eatable, and should not pose danger to you or you dog if ingested in small numbers.
    However, the peanuts made from polystyrene foam are poisonous and dogs can't tell the differences between them.
    Still safe to make them vomit if you don't know how much they ate.
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  3. #3
    Senior Dog CraftHer's Avatar
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    My brother is mailing me something and said he'd fill the box with packing peanuts. Maybe I'll just unpack it at the UPS store (we have a PO box) and not even bring them close to the house! As careful as I am, Mocha can be very stealthy.

    I am so glad Shadow is OK.

  4. #4
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    There are biodegradable peanuts that you can apparently dispose of by washing down a drain because they are soluble in water. It sounds like these may be the kind used in your package because the polystyrene ones would not have dissolved in his saliva one little bit. The polystyrene ones would only have broken up, unless there is acetone in dog saliva. I wouldn't want any to go down the gullet, dissolved or not. Good catch by you. It would be nice if the package said which kind were used but not so you can relax your vigilance, just so you can know what degree of panic is warranted.

  5. #5
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    Are the nontoxic kind of peanuts like the toy for kids called Magic Noodles? The grans love them and they do dissolve almost instantly. I think they are corn starch based.

  6. #6
    House Broken swanska's Avatar
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    I am pretty sure it was the type made from corn or potato starch...I looked online and there are some cylindrical ones that looked similar. Regardless of the ingredient, it was really the fistful-size gooey mass blocking the back of his throat/airway that was the immediate concern.

    I can see where they would be fun for kids to experiment with...I liked playing with rice paper and watching it dissolve.

 



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