Dog ate a yellow tang

dclaghorn

New member
My dog, an 80lb boxer, may have eaten a yellow tang. She "thinks" she left the top open, and today there was one fewer tang in her tank. Last night, Mike - my boxer - had a seizure. Could a yellow tang for a snack be toxic to a dog?

Thanks,
Dave
 
Are you serious?

Well all i can say is your dog must be quite skilled if he can pluck a healthy yellow tang out of a fishtank!!
 
It's possible that the tang jumped out and was eaten while it was on the floor. Tangs have that bone that sticks out, I forget what it is called, so it is possibly caught in the dog's throat or stomach.
 
It's possible that the tang jumped out and was eaten while it was on the floor. Tangs have that bone that sticks out, I forget what it is called, so it is possibly caught in the dog's throat or stomach.


The scapel.. i highly doubt it was stuck in the dogs stomache. Most dogs chew their food not swallow.
 
Dogs, especially a boxer...eat bones waaaaay bigger than a yellow tangs scapel with no ill effects. And no, the fish isn't venemous so I'm doubtful eating the tang had anything to do with the dogs illness.
 
I think tangs actually may be venomous.

Dr. Leo Smith at the American Museum of Natural History found that there are many more venomous fishes than originally thought. Most of these aren't normally harmful, but if a yellow tang carries venom and is eaten raw, it could potentially cause illness.

See link
http://homepage.mac.com/wmleosmith/pubs/assets/13_SmithWheelerVenom.pdf

For those less nerdy than I am, here is a link to a less technical article
http://www.amnh.org/science/papers/venomous_fish.php

OP, hope your dog is okay.
 
i am sorry i work with dogs and i honestly dont think a boxer or most dogs would be able to catch a yellow tang in the water. if the tang had jumped then it becomes more possibly.
regardless hope you dog is ok
 
Let me put a disclosure with my above statement that tangs being venemous is a myth: this is just my personal belief. For me personally, it falls into the category of 'is ich in every tank or not'? One of those things that cannot be definitively proven one way or the other. Review the facts, form your opinion, and take your stance on the topic. lol

On a side note, while I HAVE heard the information provided about the possibility (and again I don't buy it) of a tang being venemous, I have also read about people mistaking a tang being 'venemous' with a bacteria laden tang scalpel infecting them with a cut while not handling them properly. And I guess I shouldn't even say 'not handling them properly'...I've been cut a few times by my pets over the years. ;)
 
Did you read the link to the research paper?

http://homepage.mac.com/wmleosmith/pubs/assets/13_SmithWheelerVenom.pdf

Some tangs do have venom glands. Yellow tangs maybe not. This peer reviewed, scientific research paper in a very good journal (Journal of Heredity) identified many more venomous fish than had been estimated - six times as many.

If there was a small amount of venom present, it is possible the dog could have a sever allergic reaction. Brachycephalous dogs (short-faced like boxers, bulldogs, pugs) can have weak tracheas, and possibly have an extreme reaction.
 
Tang venom is not a myth although "venom" may not be the correct word for it... allergy might be. I've personally handled several tangs and have gotten "stuck" by their dorsal and anal spines. One of the most memerable would be a small 3" Paracanthurus hepatus that fell out of a decoration as I was removing it from the tank and landing dorsal spine first into my hand. What happened next surprised me, as it started burning and swelling, this lasted well over an hour. My hand doubled in size. Whether or not it was by tang "venom" or just an allergic reaction to the slime coat or another substance is beyond me... but my body reacted to something. I've heard of other accounts of this happening to other people as well...
 
Tang venom is not a myth although "venom" may not be the correct word for it... allergy might be.. I've personally handled several tangs and have gotten "stuck" by their dorsal and anal spines. One of the most memerable would be a small 3" Paracanthurus hepatus that fell out of a decoration as I was removing it from the tank and landing dorsal spine first into my hand. What happened next surprised me, as it started burning and swelling, this lasted well over an hour. My hand doubled in size. Whether or not it was by tang "venom" or just an allergic reaction to the slime coat or another substance is beyond me... but my body reacted to something. I've heard of other accounts of this happening to other people as well...

Huh? You say tang venom is NOT a myth, but then say it's not venom at all...you say it's an allergy. Then you describe an experience of just that...an allergy. Which sounds an awful lot like something I've read lately. I just can't place where I read it...

:hmm5:

On a side note, while I HAVE heard the information provided about the possibility (and again I don't buy it) of a tang being venemous, I have also read about people mistaking a tang being 'venemous' with a bacteria laden tang scalpel infecting them with a cut while not handling them properly. And I guess I shouldn't even say 'not handling them properly'...I've been cut a few times by my pets over the years. ;)


Having a venom gland and being venomous are 2 different things. They may have a venom gland that is EMPTY NOW but contained venom 10,000 years ago. Hell, I have an appendix that serves no purpose to me...NOW. It may have had a function when I was a caveman. Who knows.
 
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