People may know that their hearing aid from your pet but it and the hearing aid battery in it can be dangerous for the animals in your home. According to Pet Finder, the hearing aid battery and the hearing device can be very dangerous to cats and dogs if they are ingested.

The problem is that hearing aid batteries are very tiny. You do not have to worry that Fido or Fluffy are going to eat a D cell but a listening device battery enough that they could. Another problem is that they are so ubiquitous in modern living that we do not really think about how dangerous they are. Batteries can be toxic to animals if they eat them.

The problem area in batteries in potassium hydroxide. Battery manufacturers use it to make the batteries last longer. It might be counterintuitive but potassium hydroxide is both itself a corrosive agent and one that can reduce the likelihood that the battery will corrode itself.

If it comes in contact with an esophagus or the tongue, it will burn the area. These burns can be very serious and even life threatening.

Pet Finder says that this is usually a bigger issue for dogs because they will puncture the hearing aid battery when they chew on the hearing equipment. When the inside of a hearing aid battery leaks out or if it is destroyed, it will burn anything it comes into contact with. That includes the skin, the mouth, the esophagus and the stomach. This can lead to a perforation in the stomach or esophagus, which can be life threatening.

This is also very painful. What you should look at is the tongue. Experts say that a pet has chewed a hearing aid battery and perforated it, they should look for a raw and red tongue or one that is grey or white. When the battery fluid hits the tongue, it causes necrosis of the area. That means the skin is dead.

• Other symptoms to look for:
• Heavy drooling
• Whimpering or cryingandnbsp;
• Problems swallowing

Some animals do stop eating because it hurts too much but you should not assume the pet is ok because some do eat. If you notice your pet is eating at a slower pace, that may indicate a problem. They say the symptoms are not immediate. The symptoms may not show up for up to 12 hours.

What can you do?

You should keep a record of the kind of hearing aid battery you have. If you can tell if the pet chewed it up or did not, that will he helpful as well for the vet. When you take your pet to the vet, if it is still in one piece, an x-ray should catch it in the stomach.

If you know your pet ate the battery, you can mitigate the influence of the potassium chloride by giving the pet milk. You do not need to give a lot, of course, this decision should be based on the size of your pet. Most pets are lactose intolerant, it gives them diarrhea. Do not, under any circumstances, get the pet to puke. That will only increase the area that is affected by the potassium chloride.

When you get to the vet, they will do an x-ray. If they see the hearing aid battery in the stomach, it may be necessary for them to have surgery to remove it. The reason for this is two fold. The hearing aid battery can get stuck in their intestine, which would mean more surgery. Surgery can also prevent more burning. There are times when a vet may ask to do an endoscopy on the animal. That is where a tube with a camera is passed down the throat. This allows the vet to see what is happening throughout the esophagus.This is get a sense of what damage has been done because this kind of injury can cause lasting problems.

There are times when vets just put the animal on a high fiber diet to get it to be forced through the digestive tract. The vet will also prescribe pain drugs, antibiotics and drugs to help the digestive tract. They may put the animal on a special diet.

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