Every year, poison control centres receive a number of calls about dogs that have eaten paintballs and become ill. Paintballs come in various colours, and one box may contain more than 1,000 paintballs. The boxes usually carry a warning label saying “Do Not Ingest”. The ingredients vary depending on the manufacturer and may include polyethylene glycol, glycerol (glycerin), gelatin, sorbitol, dipropylene glycol, mineral oil, dye, ground pigskin, and water.
The ingredients of themselves are not toxic, but when eaten, they will rapidly draw fluids out of the body and into the intestinal tract, causing dehydration as well as disturbances in the chemical composition of the blood. Specifically, the blood usually becomes acidic and the dog’s balance of sodium is usually severely affected. In many cases, the balance of chloride, and potassium are also altered. Initial symptoms of toxicity can occur within an hour of ingestion and include vomiting (with or without paint), diarrhoea, incoordination and tremors; left untreated, the neurologic symptoms can quickly progress to hyperactivity, seizures or blindness and the dog may lapse into a coma.
There may be no outward evidence such as paint on the floor or in the mouth, especially with larger dogs who apparently tend to eat the balls whole. In some cases, the problem was discovered when the owner noticed the missing balls or an empty container. It isn’t known what the toxic dose of paintballs is. In one case, a 90-lb (41-kg) Labrador retriever showed clinical signs after ingesting 15 paintballs.
These dogs require immediate emergency treatment by a veterinarian to save their lives. Time is of the essence. If caught within an hour of consumption, and before the onset of symptoms, vomiting will be induced as the first step of treatment. Your veterinarian may also administer enemas to help move any intact paintballs through the intestinal tract. Medications will be given to control any symptoms that develop, especially if the dog is showing nervous system disturbances. In all cases, the dog will be put onto intravenous fluid treatment, at a rapid flow rate. This will help counteract the fluid loss and reverse the chemical imbalances in the blood and body tissues. The dog will require hospitalization for monitoring of the blood changes, and to ensure that no other symptoms develop. Although potentially fatal, with symptomatic and supportive care, the clinical signs usually resolve within 24 hours and the patient makes a full recovery.
Because little is known about the mechanisms of action and lethal dose of paintballs, all cases are treated as potentially serious. If you are planning on giving paintball equipment for a holiday gift, make sure that you put the gift in a place where your dog can’t reach it. Apparently, the smell of the paintballs are strong enough for the sensitive nose of a dog to pick up, and “out of sight” is not good enough to prevent this mishap from occurring.
