WARNING! Dog vs GorillaGlue. Dog loses.

This is going to sound like a 'net legend, but it's not. It's happening to me -- right now.

A little over a week ago, I brought home a small container of Gorilla Glue. One of our dogs, Jazmine, a one year old 20 lb mix, found it and chewed it open. After cleaning up as best I could, it appeared she might have ingested the equivalent of a teaspoon or less. The label had the standard disclaimer about "pets and children". The website had a little more info but nothing really specific. The nice lady I talked with at the number posted on the website was kind of glib and offering no first-aid suggestions, left me thinking this was no big deal. WRONG.

After a couple of days, Jaz began losing appetitie -- most unusual -- and vomiting clear mucus which began showing blood after two days.

To shorten the story, surgery -- opening her stomach and upper intestine -- resulted in removal of a mass of expanded glue and food, bonded into one mass about the size of two teacups. I witnessed it.

Everyone is amazed she survived until the surgery.

I'm not upset with GorillaGlue - they did have the warning on the label (tho I now think it's not worded strongly enough) and reasonable info on the website. I do believe the telephone lady (I have no idea if she was GG staff or merely a call center worker) should have been able to discuss the potential dangers and more strongly emphasize that the danger is for real.

Anyway, I know lots of you use stuff like GorillaGlue and are pet owners, so I thought I'd pass it on.

Wow, that's crazy... I'm definately putting mine up now...

Is the dog now ok?

From the title I thought the dog was stuck to the floor or something. Poor thing. Hope she recovers ok!

IsaacHayes said:

From the title I thought the dog was stuck to the floor or something. Poor thing. Hope she recovers ok!

Click to expand...

Yeah thats what I thought too. I have had gg do some crazy stuff before but never anythign like that. Best wishes to your dog.

PM me your address i'll try to send her some doggy bones!

Thanks for the info. Remember, that stuff expands when exposed to water.

I thought the dog would of had his/her mouth glued shut... But surgery went pretty far...

That's horrible. I'm glad your pup is going to be OK. I could just see my dog doing this. He ate the bulbs and sockets off half of a string of Christmas lights year before last.

Did you get the name of the woman you spoke to? They really aren't a very big company, the headquarters is a couple of miles from my house and is in a relatively small building. That makes me think that they may only have a few people to answer calls, but I don't know. They really need a letter about this anyway, because it's not a matter to be glib about.

Did you get back in touch with Gorilla Glue? If I were you, I think I'd call them and just advise them as to what happened. Not hostily, but just so that they are fully aware of what can and did happen.

I'm always amazed at the stuff dog's will eat! Who knows, maybe it tastes good to pets (like anti-freeze). I hope Jaz does well and has no lasting effects from the ordeal. I agree with Illuminating Biker. They should be told of this so the call takers can inform customer's of the dire consequences and to seek immediate medical care.

Poor fella...
At least you knew what the dog got into, some others may not have associated it to the glue..
Glad she is ok now..

Jaz sends thanks for the kind words and wishes. She's home. Skinny and weak, but happy and hungry (as usual).

Yes, I've written GG. Not so much to complain as to give them my information and suggest they strengthen their warnings. I did tell them that the personal contact was counterproductive --- leaving me with a diminished sense of concern when it should have increased it.

I wish Jaz had been glued to the floor -- I could have fixed that in about thirty seconds.

Again, thanks and please pass the info on. I'd really hate to see someone lose a pet like this, much less a child.

Wow, glad Jaz is doing OK. That's scary.

Definitely follow up with the company. That little $5-$10 bottle of glue turned out to be pretty darn expensive!

Sorry about your dog. You got lucky, several have died. This has been a known issue in the dog world for some time. The biggest mass I've seen was the size of a football. I won't allow it in the house, it stays in a high cabinet drawer in a shed that's always closed unless I'm in there.

Bob_G said:

Sorry about your dog. You got lucky, several have died. This has been a known issue in the dog world for some time. The biggest mass I've seen was the size of a football. I won't allow it in the house, it stays in a high cabinet drawer in a shed that's always closed unless I'm in there.

Click to expand...

Do you mean Gorilla Glue specifically or any glue?

Do you mean Gorilla Glue specifically or any glue?

Click to expand...

Gorilla Glue as well as any other polyurethane based expanding adhesive, like Elmer's Probond. It's designed to expand on exposure to water, then harden, that's the problem. Dogs will consume almost anything, and in shockingly large quantities, so the danger is extreme given the large containers of this type of glue you see around.

That doesn't mean there aren't toxic substances in other glues and household products, but for some reason, this type of adhesive seems to attract dogs, and the danger isn't obvious because people don't picture 16 ounces of the stuff being ingested, and what that will do when it expands to several times it's original size.

Alloy Addict said:

Do you mean Gorilla Glue specifically or any glue?

Click to expand...

That type of glue is dangerous.

Note however that "Gorilla Glue" is a widely advertized brand name. A little label reading at your local hardware store will give you the same thing in the same amounts in a $2.00 rather than a $10.00 container.

BIGIRON said:

...Yes, I've written GG. Not so much to complain as to give them my information and suggest they strengthen their warnings...

Click to expand...

First off, I'm very glad to hear that your pup survived, with the only damage being to your pocket book. I'm also surprised that GG hasn't asked to include your story as one of their product testimonials. Because any glue that can manage to stick together wet, churning food inside the intestine of a live dog has got to be one heck of a glue !!!! That's almost as good as the JB weld product testimonial of the guy who glued his tractor's cracked engine block back together with the stuff.

Dogs are amazing eating machines. My buddy had a black Lab that walked up to them one day, let out a pathetic groan and passed out. The Vet found an almost intact child's baseball glove in his stomach!

Good thing you got to your dog before she wolfed down the whole tube.