Hi! This is a question for the sake of fiction/writing, but apparently bromethaline-based rat poisons are safer for predators given the smaller dosages are less likely to move up the ecosystem. Is this true? Could a cat that eats a rat doomed this way still get sick? And I also read that permanent neurological damage can result from exposure - however that is a very broad range of long-term conditions, so what exactly would you expect to see in a survivor?
gettingvetted here.
I had a terrible problem with mice in my last house. I even hired an exterminator to come out. He insisted that poison was our only option to get rid of the mice, but I have cats in the house that I knew would eat them on occasion. I did some research into various rat poisons and found that there has never been a report of secondary toxicity with bromethalin based rat poisons (i.e., if a predator eats an animal that has consumed bromethalin, the predator does not experience toxicity, unlike anticoagulants such as brodifacoum). I would have been more comfortable using that type of poison, but the exterminator made like he couldn't find any and I never heard from him again. Anyway, long-term neurologic damage would depend on the dose consumed and whether any kind of decontamination (induced vomiting, charcoal administration) was performed. Ataxia, limb numbness, seizures, and mentation changes would be among the most common long-term side effects.