[107barney]

Lead poisoning in dogs is usually first suspected based on history (i.e. owner doing paint renovations in a home that may have lead paint (for example, an older home).

The dog may have neurological signs (spinning, circling, seizures). The lab results may show increased red blood cells or immature red blood cells. These signs may not always show up. Finally, serum blood levels must be tested for the presence of lead. A simple blood test will tell you if the dog was exposed to lead. If the dog was exposed and is over the canine normal values (0-20), then chelation therapy must be started.

Not to scare you but vacuuming up lead based paint while helpful to clean up lead paint chips that you see, is not sufficient to get rid of the lead dust which needs to go. You need to vacuum with a closed HEPA vacuum and wash the area thoroughly with a lead specific detergent. You have to make sure you are not tracking the dust all around. Many people will tell you to wash the area with trisodium phosphate (TSP) but this is caustic to the lungs and does not remove lead (it breaks the lead into lead phosphate). And finally TSP is horrible for the environment.

Please ask your vet to run the serum lead value if you suspect that your home has lead and please test yourselves as well. Lead is deadly and causes long term effects if left untreated. Lead poisoning can be treated with the drug Succimer (brand name Chemet) which is a chelating agent that binds to lead and removes it from the blood. Sometimes more than one course of therapy is needed to remove lead as it leaches from the bones (lead competes with calcium and stores in the bones and it can take a long time to get the levels down).

I have in depth knowledge of this topic so if you have a lead situation on your hands please feel free to contact me by PM.