This slow elimination combined with enterohepatic recirculation causes markedly prolonged effects with toxicity. Most products contain 0.075% cholecalciferol, meaning a 20 kilogram dog would only need to ingest 0.5oz to develop toxicity.Ĭholecalciferol is rapidly absorbed following ingestion and has a half-life of approximately 19-25 hours with an elimination half-life of approximately 19 days. Hypercalcemia has been reported at doses as low as 0.5mg/kg.

Cholecalciferol has a very narrow margin of safety, making even small ingestions in dogs and cats potentially fatal. This combination can lead to mineralization of organs, with the kidneys being most susceptible, resulting in renal failure. How Cholecalciferol Affects Dogs and CatsĬholecalciferol increases calcium absorption in the gastrointestinal tract and decreases renal excretion of calcium producing hypercalcemia and hyperphosphatemia. By 2019, all rodenticides manufactured by d-CON®, the most popular brand of rodenticides, will be made with cholecalciferol. Unfortunately, the first-generation anticoagulants are less effective as rodenticides, which has caused producers to transition to either bromethalin or cholecalciferol, neither of which have safe, accessible and inexpensive antidotes like the anticoagulants.

warfarin), bromethalin (neurotoxin), or cholecalciferol (vitamin D3). This regulation has caused rodenticide manufacturers to change active ingredients to first-generation anticoagulants (i.e. In 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enacted regulations banning the use of second-generation anticoagulants in residential rodenticides.

Though there was the potential for life-threatening hemorrhage within 72 hours of ingestion, an inexpensive antidote (vitamin K1) was available and effective if administered prior to clinical signs. Historically, second-generation anticoagulants were the most common active ingredient in rodenticides. Ingestion of rodenticides by companion animals is consistently one of the most common intoxications in veterinary medicine.

Antidote for vitamin k toxicity