Wet hydrated lime can cause chemical burns and irreversible damage. Ingestion can cause burns to the lips, throat, stomach, and digestive tract, especially when used near dogs. As a result, it is advised against using hydrated lime for household applications if you have pets.
You may know that lime can be beneficial to many plants in your yard, yet you may ask yourself, is dolomite lime safe for dogs, and is lime powder poisonous to cats? However, besides this, you also have plant material or fruits of the lime tree. Other questions such are limes and other citrus plants harmful to dogs?
Lime poisoning can come from many areas, be it citrus fruits or lime for lawns. Pets are vulnerable to exposure, and it doesn’t need to be in large quantities. In our guide, you can learn all you need about which way will lime hurt dogs and what you need to do. By the end, you’ll see how it can affect their immune system when dogs eat limes or get covered in lime dust from your lawn. (Read Is Scotts Weed And Feed Safe For Dogs)
How to Safely Apply Lime Safely
You don’t have to sacrifice your garden’s beauty to protect your pet. You must exercise some caution, though, for your own protection.
Here are some safety tips in dealing with garden lime:
Protect Your Skin
Before any lime application, ensure you’re appropriately dressed. Closed-toe shoes, such as hiking boots or leather work boots, are essential.
Cover your entire body, so wear long pants and sleeves when applying lime. Gloves, goggles, and masks can help prevent more than skin irritation. Using non-caustic lime such as Dolomite is recommended, as it is considered non-toxic and can safeguard your furry friends.
Lawn Lime and Dogs
Agriculture lime is a different lime. Limestone is ground into lime dust to make this. It is also known as quick lime, caustic lime, or ag lime. Whatever you call it, using it around dogs is dangerous. Skin irritation or chemical burns could result.
If you believe your pet ingested lime powder, wash them gently with mild soap and work to remove it as soon as you can. Allow them to consume copious amounts of water to clear their systems.
Use a Spreading Tool
You should also assess safety issues against comfort and ease while applying lime. Spreaders help lime application in modest yards.
- Rotary Spreader: A rotary spreader can apply lime. This allows users to distribute lime over huge lawn areas efficiently.
The rotating spreader covers more ground in less time by distributing pelletized lime in a broad pattern. It works quickly, giving you time to stroll your pets after mowing the lawn.
- Drop Spreader: Drop spreaders scatter pelleted lime as you push them. The drop spreader drops pellets just below the opening, which may work better for smaller lawns. Pass over the entire garden to be thorough.
Drop spreading may be more exact than rotary spreading, but it’s more tiresome. Using a drop spreader to apply lime needs several more laps around the lawn.
You’ll need to water your lawn with both devices, so watch out for pets running around and splashes on yourself.
What If My Dog Eats Lime Fertilizer?
Lime is safer than other fertilizers, but it shouldn’t be eaten. Despite your best efforts, you may miss a few pellets, or it wasn’t watered incorrectly.
Get your dog to the vet if they’ve consumed lime pellets or powder. While pets can fully recover from ingesting lime, taking this issue seriously is advisable, as side effects can range from moderate stomach discomfort to more severe difficulties.
Lime poisoning can cause constipation, stomach and digestive system distress, and more. Eating lime can lead to hypercalcemia, an excess of calcium in the blood, and can be toxic to the kidneys, cardio, and nervous systems.
Hypercalcemia isn’t fatal, yet you’ll need to know how much lime your pet ingested. There is no one solution, as it is geared to how much lime your pet consumed.
Powdered non-caustic lime may cause skin sensitivity. Hydrated lime can produce itchy, rashes and dehydrated skin in pets. Chemical burns degrade skin and paws, causing cell death if left untreated. (Read Is Sedum Poisonous To Dogs)
How to Clean Lime Off Pets
You should clean your pet if they get into lime as lime can cause severe burns. Water activates lime, so don’t try and clean your pet with water after hydrated lime exposure. Remove lime dust using a dry towel and check for residue between paw pads.
Tips for Pet Owners
Lime pellets are equally poisonous to humans and animals, but if your dog plays in the grass shortly after they are scattered, he will be exposed to more of them than you would.
Because of their high alkalinity, lime pellets work to improve the pH of acidic soil; yet, because of this, they can irritate the skin when in close contact with it.
What is Lemon and Lime Poisoning?
Lime powder and fertilizer are one thing, but are limes poisonous to dogs?
The fruits of lemon and lime trees are popular in human food and drink, but they can be harmful to pets. Lemons and limes, along with other citrus fruits, have the essential oils limonene and linalool as well as the phototoxic chemicals called psoralens. Other citrus fruits also have these compounds.
Small amounts can induce gastric distress, although, an excess of citric acid, can cause considerable suffering. Luckily, dogs don’t willingly eat limes, yet it doesn’t mean they won’t get lime poisoning from the fruits.
Can Dogs Eat Limes?
Have you ever wondered if dogs eat limes? The finest thing you can give your pet, we know as pet parents, is wholesome dog food. Sometimes, you genuinely want to provide them with a treat, and dogs like fruits. (Read Tetherball For Dogs Guide)
However, with limes, dogs shouldn’t eat any part of the lime.
Can Dogs Have Limes
Dogs shouldn’t eat limes, though. Dogs should not eat this fruit. Your dog is in serious threat from even a slice of lime.
The lime may contain some pieces that pose a choking hazard. In addition, dogs shouldn’t eat any of the citrus plant parts, including the lime peels and leaves of the lime tree.
Are Limes Toxic For Dogs
Yes, excessive lime is thought to be hazardous to dogs. Intense essential oils are present in the peels. When dogs eat lime peels, they may get an upset stomach, have diarrhea, or even throw up. Poisoning could result from consuming too many essential oils through their digestive system.
How much lime is toxic to dogs?
Even if limes contain toxins that are toxic to dogs, it would take a large number of limes to poison a dog to the point where he would die. Because of how severely the essential oils and sour taste would affect dogs, the majority of canines won’t even be able to eat enough lime to become poisoned to the point where they will die from it.
If your dog has consumed any limes, you should keep an eye on them and make some notes so that you can present your local veterinarian with the information so that they can treat your pet.
Can Limes Kill Dogs
Dogs can be poisoned by psoralen compounds, a phototoxic compound that lime trees produce. However, you may not find limes kill dogs, but common side effects from eating citrus plants are:
- Difficulty breathing
- Excessive Drooling
- Gastrointestinal upset
- Low Blood Pressure
- Intestinal blockage
If you suspect liver failure or your dog is lethargic, it’s best to seek immediate veterinary care.
Symptoms of Lime Poisoning
Here are the symptoms of lime that is toxic to dogs:
- Stomach upset: An upset stomach is a negative reaction is a dog eats lime fruit. Lime’s citric acid components can cause heartburn, acid reflux, and indigestion.
- Acute poisoning: Due to limes’ extreme sourness, it’s doubtful a dog would consume enough to induce severe poisoning. Dogs can have lethargy, vomiting, excessive drooling, diarrhea, loss of coordination, low blood pressure, and tremors. Poisoning causes liver failure.
- Phototoxicity: Psoralen in lime peels and lime leaves can cause adverse reactions in dogs. Getting psoralen on your dog’s skin might cause skin irritation.
Are Limes Good For Dogs?
Limes are good for humans’ immune systems. Yet even with plenty of Vitamin C, they are not suitable for dogs.
Can Dogs Have Lime Juice
Lime juice should never be given to dogs, not even in small amounts. They can get stomach and throat irritation from the citric acid. Besides, most dogs won’t like the sour taste.
Can Dogs Eat Key Lime Pie
Even though key lime pie might appear safe, dogs shouldn’t eat sweet treats. They contain excessive calories and might make your pet gain weight undesirably.
In addition, some varieties of key lime pie contain xylitol, an artificial sweetener. Never allow your dog to eat any products prepared with xylitol because it is toxic to dogs and probably worse than essential oils in limes. (Read Can Dogs Have Oat Milk)
What To Do If Your Dog Ate Lime?
Contact your veterinarian if you suspect your dog has consumed limes. They’ll quiz you about how much they consumed and what variety of limes they were. Then, to induce vomiting and get the toxins out of their system, your vet could give them activated charcoal.
A physical assessment and a blood chemistry profile may be made if necessary in order to generate a complete blood count. The best course of therapy will probably include iv fluids to ease dehydration.
Can My Dog Eat Citrus?
What about lemons, oranges, and other sour citrus fruits if limes are out of the question? Oranges are the safest to give your dog, although to give them Vitamin C, you can try feeding treats such as pineapple, asparagus, and even a chunk of Kiwi without the skin.
Final Thoughts For Dog Owners
Please don’t give limes to your dog. If large dogs eat a small number of limes, you might not notice any signs, but it’s still risky and not worth it. Dogs’ dietary requirements differ from people’s. They shouldn’t eat limes or anything produced with them because they have an adverse reaction to them.
