Can Eating Possum Make My Dog Sick?

[Amika]

If in Vic, possums are never relocated .....eg: if they were in your roof and someone removed them from your roof they would only be released into the trees surrounding your property and you have to make your roof possum proof.

[KitKat]

My dogs are locked up at night to prevent them eating possums....but my resident possum used the dogs as her personal security team - be it that she tosses interlopers to the dogs or moves about the yard in a way that newcomers who don't know the set up risk becoming a snack, but she knows the place and uses it to her advantage!

[noisymina]

Yes, I am not being very reverent.

I lost sympathy for possums a long time ago, We have planted numerous fruit and nut trees on our 5 acres ...80 all up. And the possums eat EVERYTHING! What they don't eat, the Cockatoos demolish.

We are not allowed to trap and relocte (and if we did, another would take their place anyway)

We are not allowed to hurt or dispose of them in any other way.

No, none of our dogs have ever eaten a possum - that I am aware of

BUT if they have, sorry, no tears here.

Our dogs are fed food from beef, lamb, chicken, roo. They are ALL "living creatures" that are being used for dog food. So why so sensitive about the suggestion that possums might be a viable source of dog food? It is no different.

Edited June 6, 2010 by noisymina

[Moselle]

My dogs are locked up at night to prevent them eating possums....but my resident possum used the dogs as her personal security team - be it that she tosses interlopers to the dogs or moves about the yard in a way that newcomers who don't know the set up risk becoming a snack, but she knows the place and uses it to her advantage!

The interlopers don't know the risks, whereas you do. I guess that amounts to one night in which you don't need to feed the dogs, correct?

[Moselle]

Yes, I am not being very reverent.

I lost sympathy for possums a long time ago, We have planted numerous fruit and nut trees on our 5 acres ...80 all up. And the possums eat EVERYTHING! What they don't eat, the Cockatoos demolish.

We are not allowed to trap and relocte (and if we did, another would take their place anyway)

We are not allowed to hurt or dispose of them in any other way.

No, none of our dogs have ever eaten a possum - that I am aware of

BUT if they have, sorry, no tears here.

Our dogs are fed food from beef, lamb, chicken, roo. They are ALL "living creatures" that are being used for dog food. So why so sensitive about the suggestion that possums might be a viable source of dog food? It is no different.

I understand your frustrations. I look at things from another viewpoint. Possums don't ask to be born (I suppose that applies to any life form) and they have to survive albeit at your loss. Imagine for one second if you were born a possum instead of a human.

[~*Shell*~]

Do any of you try and prevent your dogs from attacking and killing the possums?

We did for a long time - we were told that we're not allowed to trap them, they destroyed the box we put up in the tree for them and they caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to our roof when they broke in searching for water (our house is very tall and if we need work done on the roof, we have to have scaffolding up all the way around the house making it very pricey) - it's sad but I've stopped trying. I tried to squash Zero's prey drive for a while - it just made him not want to be around me. If i see him chasing one around the backyard (he will sit under the tree, cry and try and jump at it), I'll call him into the house or put him in the garage until the possum is gone but he mostly nabs them in the middle of the night when we're all in bed. He refuses to settle inside so he sleeps outside (left over from his old owners i think) - it's no win for us!

[Incavale]

I'd be sleppy too if I ate a whole possum

[noisymina]

Yes, I am not being very reverent.

I lost sympathy for possums a long time ago, We have planted numerous fruit and nut trees on our 5 acres ...80 all up. And the possums eat EVERYTHING! What they don't eat, the Cockatoos demolish.

We are not allowed to trap and relocte (and if we did, another would take their place anyway)

We are not allowed to hurt or dispose of them in any other way.

No, none of our dogs have ever eaten a possum - that I am aware of

BUT if they have, sorry, no tears here.

Our dogs are fed food from beef, lamb, chicken, roo. They are ALL "living creatures" that are being used for dog food. So why so sensitive about the suggestion that possums might be a viable source of dog food? It is no different.

I understand your frustrations. I look at things from another viewpoint. Possums don't ask to be born (I suppose that applies to any life form) and they have to survive albeit at your loss. Imagine for one second if you were born a possum instead of a human.

If I was living around here, I'd be in paradise. Can't say the human condition impresses me a great deal.

Oh - and the chooks, steers, lambs etc do ask to be born do they?

[Greytmate]

Yes, I am not being very reverent.

I lost sympathy for possums a long time ago, We have planted numerous fruit and nut trees on our 5 acres ...80 all up. And the possums eat EVERYTHING! What they don't eat, the Cockatoos demolish.

We are not allowed to trap and relocte (and if we did, another would take their place anyway)

We are not allowed to hurt or dispose of them in any other way.

No, none of our dogs have ever eaten a possum - that I am aware of

BUT if they have, sorry, no tears here.

Our dogs are fed food from beef, lamb, chicken, roo. They are ALL "living creatures" that are being used for dog food. So why so sensitive about the suggestion that possums might be a viable source of dog food? It is no different.

I understand your frustrations. I look at things from another viewpoint. Possums don't ask to be born (I suppose that applies to any life form) and they have to survive albeit at your loss. Imagine for one second if you were born a possum instead of a human.

Then imagine being born as a hookworm.

We have a huge old possum that lives here. Possums are very territorial. This one fights off other possums, and knows to keep out of the dogs' way.

[cheree]

I am definetly not impressed by her killing another animal but that is how they survive in the wild and I am very glad it wasn't someones cat!! I have just moved house and unfortunatly our new yard while it is lovely and big for her to enjoy it is full of trees = possums!! And like Zero she will sit at the trees and whinge and go crazy!

She is just a little bit excited in her new surroundings so we have some bumps to smooth out, there are dogs on every side of us, we have only been here a week and so far;

She chewed her way through her lead while i wasn't looking and ran away ($45 new special non chewable lead)

Got bitten by something and her head swelled to the size of a football and looked like scooby doo ($100 vet bill)

Eaten a possum ($40 worming.. on + side i didn't have to feed her)

she got through our supposed husky proof fence we reinforced with stakes and chicken wire ($100), and tore up the neighbours yard ( approx $200)

it has been a stressfull and expensive week LOL

BUT I love her to death and all the snuggles make up for the pain in the ass moments!!!

[noisymina]

Oh my goodness.

What a week - on top of moving!

The possums will keep pretty safe now they know what happens if they go to ground.

BUT I love her to death and all the snuggles make up for the pain in the ass moments!!!

Umm................. just as well, by the sound of it.

[cheree]

And by the looks of it she needs surgery on her knee.. which is something absurd like $2000 - $3000 per leg (fingers crossed its only one)!!! i do from time to time in the heat of rage threaten her she is going to RSPCA when she has destroyed something expensive or someone elses things LOL

aahhh the joys of having four leggedd buddys makes me not want kids in the future LOL

[PeiPei]

I'd have to say YES eating a possum could make your dog ill. Possums do carry a range of parasites and pathogens.

I would be careful, because besides the easy to fix the things like worms and parasites, possums do carry diseases such as Toxoplasmosis and Leptospirosis

Both can be transferred to your dog and can cause major problems. One of the major signs of both of these is fatigue.

Also I would be careful that the possum hasn't been poisoned (hence the reason why your dog was able to catch it in the first place)

My advice would be to visit or contact your local vet for more advice

[KitKat]

My dogs are locked up at night to prevent them eating possums....but my resident possum used the dogs as her personal security team - be it that she tosses interlopers to the dogs or moves about the yard in a way that newcomers who don't know the set up risk becoming a snack, but she knows the place and uses it to her advantage!

The interlopers don't know the risks, whereas you do. I guess that amounts to one night in which you don't need to feed the dogs, correct?

Yes i know the risks...and am careful to move around the yard in such a way to not be eaten by my dogs, same as my resident possum I can't help it that the resident possum uses my dogs to protect her territory and babies. I'm not going to perch outside warning intruding possums to stay out of the yard, i'm also not going to lock up my dogs 24/7 in case a dumb possum attempts to enter the yard. Survival of the smartest i say - and if it keeps my fairly considerate resident possum happy and resident then i'm happy.

And if i do realise that my dogs have nabbed a possum, and that it's dead i'll either remove it if it's whole, and if it's half eaten they don't get fed until the finish it and then they get wormed. My resident possum generally saves her moving around in the backyard until the boys are in bed - otherwise she heads out the front of the house.

Edited June 7, 2010 by KitKat