Dog eats eel

reef addicted · Nov 17, 2016

So i work at a lfs in texas and i had a customer that told me his eel jumped out of the tank couple days ago and he couldnt find the eel. He is assuming that his dog ate it. I told the customer he should take the dog to the vet since they have some toxin in the eels blood. Is that correct? Could his dog be severely sick? Sorry odd topic

Sabellafella · Nov 17, 2016

reef addicted said:
So i work at a lfs in texas and i had a customer that told me his eel jumped out of the tank couple days ago and he couldnt find the eel. He is assuming that his dog ate it. I told the customer he should take the dog to the vet since they have some toxin in the eels blood. Is that correct? Could his dog be severely sick? Sorry odd topic

#reefsquad i would take him to the vet asap just incase. Theres potential harm that could possibly come from it. Also theres nasty strains of bacteria that could cause harm. Hope the pup is ok!

reef addicted · Nov 17, 2016

Sabellafella said:
#reefsquad i would take him to the vet asap just incase. Theres potential harm that could possibly come from it. Also theres nasty strains of bacteria that could cause harm. Hope the pup is ok!

Yeah same here i have dogs and i be scared if one of my dogs ate something like that.

Duke4Life · Nov 17, 2016

I think if it happened a few days ago the dog would already be dead if it ate it.

I'll report back more once I hear back from the message I sent out to my eel guru.

bairdimusprime · Nov 17, 2016

is the dog getting sick?
Eel blood is toxic (if injected) to humans and other mammals.
i would absolutely take him to the vet

saltyfilmfolks · Nov 17, 2016

why do we eat eels.

Brew12 · Nov 17, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
why do we eat eels.

Why do we eat puffer fish?

saltyfilmfolks · Nov 17, 2016

Brew12 said:
Why do we eat puffer fish?

to catch a buzz(can i say that?)

Chris Adams · Nov 17, 2016

@saltyfilmfolks I know what you are saying but just think about what chocolate does to dogs!

Also we tend to cook our eel

Tahoe61 · Nov 17, 2016

^ No not really

The misconception I believe is that when an animal or human is bitten by an eel it commonly results in infection, the reason for that is the bacteria types that are found in the oral cavity of eels. Eel in themselves are not toxic, they just have extremely dirty mouths, boy talk about a segue right.

Tahoe61 · Nov 17, 2016

Chris Adams said:
@saltyfilmfolks I know what you are saying but just think about what chocolate does to dogs!

Also we tend to cook our eel

Here we go:

http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/articles/moray-eels-bitebut-are-they-poisonous-full-article.htm

Some clarification:

To this point it is believed that the crinotoxins of morays are not very dangerous and only lead to increased pain and bleeding. However, allergic reactions may be possible and are just one more reason you don’t want to be bitten by a moray eel. Those crinotoxins additionally support two general rules of tank maintenance: don’t reach into a tank with wounds on your hands, and don’t touch your moray eel.

Blood Toxins

Moray eels, as well as many other eel-like fish of the order Aguilliformes, have toxic proteins in their blood. They are usually referred to as ichthyotoxins, which simply means “fish poisons.” They are among the oldest toxic substances from marine critters known to mankind. Fishermen in general are aware of the fact that certain fishes have to be heated above 75°C (167°F) to destroy the toxins. Consequently, making moray eel sushi is not a good idea. Ichthyotoxin poisoning can lead to spasms and heavy breathing. These substances are also haemolytic and should not touch your eyes, mouth, or open wounds. Bleeding moray eels should be handled car

And the reason I got rid of my moray is because it bite me 3 times over a year when I was doing maintenance on the tank.

saltyfilmfolks · Nov 17, 2016

Chris Adams said:
@saltyfilmfolks I know what you are saying but just think about what chocolate does to dogs!

Also we tend to cook our eel

hope it didnt sound like snark. actually curious. And we cook our eel in this country.

Tahoe61 said:
^

they just have extremely dirty mouths, boy talk about a segue right.

lol

Tahoe61 · Nov 17, 2016

No, I appreciate snark more then most, probably too much.

I posted a link about regarding eel toxins.

saltyfilmfolks · Nov 17, 2016

Tahoe61 said:
Here we go:

http://www.tfhmagazine.com/details/articles/moray-eels-bitebut-are-they-poisonous-full-article.htm

Some clarification:

To this point it is believed that the crinotoxins of morays are not very dangerous and only lead to increased pain and bleeding. However, allergic reactions may be possible and are just one more reason you don’t want to be bitten by a moray eel. Those crinotoxins additionally support two general rules of tank maintenance: don’t reach into a tank with wounds on your hands, and don’t touch your moray eel.

Blood Toxins

Moray eels, as well as many other eel-like fish of the order Aguilliformes, have toxic proteins in their blood. They are usually referred to as ichthyotoxins, which simply means “fish poisons.” They are among the oldest toxic substances from marine critters known to mankind. Fishermen in general are aware of the fact that certain fishes have to be heated above 75°C (167°F) to destroy the toxins. Consequently, making moray eel sushi is not a good idea. Ichthyotoxin poisoning can lead to spasms and heavy breathing. These substances are also haemolytic and should not touch your eyes, mouth, or open wounds. Bleeding moray eels should be handled car

And the reason I got rid of my moray is because it bite me 3 times over a year when I was doing maintenance on the tank.

cool thanks! I assume you didn't have sushi?

Brew12 · Nov 17, 2016

Tahoe61 said:
However, allergic reactions may be possible and are just one more reason you don’t want to be bitten by a moray eel.

Did I need more than one reason to not want to be bitten by one?

Tahoe61 · Nov 17, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
cool thanks! I assume you didn't have sushi?

No I gave it to an unsuspecting hobbyist, I did tell him it bite though. I love eels, I have been chased across the bottom of the ocean by a large moray with the best of em. Morays are huge beggers, often they can not tell the treat from the hand, hence the reason most people get bitten, the moray is just going in for the taste test, because they really can not see well enough to differentiate between hand and fish.

If it were my dog I would just contact the vet.

Duke4Life · Nov 17, 2016

Here's the response I received:

If it did happen I would bring them to the vet asap and tell them it possibly ingested a ciguatoxin-- I doubt most vets are familiar with morays and the inherent dangers. Knowing they're possibly dealing with a cigua could save time. There is a chance that there is no danger as the toxin is a result of an ingested dinoflagellate. I don't know if being in captivity will eliminate consumption and storage of said flagellate.