Sorry for being long winded here but I’ve told this to many dog parents.
When we brought our Norfolk Terrier home in July of ‘99, we immediately took her to the vet for a check up and she was declared a healthy puppy. We fenced in the back yard so she would have her own realm to roam.
I have several flower beds that I would put bagged hardwood mulch in. When our dog was about 3, she started eating the mulch like it was dog treats. Made her sick a couple of times and we rushed her to the vet for treatment. Both the vet and I decided it would be a good idea to remove the mulch so I took it all out and replaced it with pea rock.
About a year later at 4 years old, Kadee developed a heart murmur. We monitored it closely but even after some meds, her heart continued to grow to the point her heart literally exploded one Sat morning. She was 7.
The vet and I never thought of a correlation between Kadee eating the mulch and her heart condition. A couple of years later, the local news station ran an expose’ about hardwood mulch being treated with a chemical one molecule different than antifreeze. And we all know antifreezes has a sweet taste to dogs but is very harmful if they ingest it. The chemical was used to rid the mulch of pests and keep it from molding.
Several dog owners had put 2 and 2 together and filed complaints that their dogs were eating the mulch and getting sick. I almost fell out of my recliner. I have no evidence to support the mulch was the cause of my dogs illness but it sure was compelling.
As far as I know, the mulch companies have discontinued the use of that chemical. If you use bagged hardwood mulch, please be aware of this. I would hate to hear of other dogs becoming sick from ingesting treated mulch.
