Animals can get sick from cyanotoxins too.
Mammals
Toxins from cyanobacteria can make animals very sick or even kill them. Animals can die within hours to days of swallowing toxins.
Seek veterinary care immediately if your pets or livestock seem sick after going in or near water.
Mammals (including pets, livestock, and wildlife) can be poisoned by swimming in or drinking water containing cyanotoxins or eating cyanobacteria, fish, or other animals containing cyanotoxins.
Dogs are especially at risk of poisoning because of their behaviors, which can include swimming in contaminated waters, drinking contaminated water, eating dead fish and other animals found near a bloom, and licking algae or scum from their fur after swimming. Pets may also be poisoned if they eat dietary blue-green algae supplementsexternal icon that are contaminated with cyanotoxins.
Cattle are at risk because their movements are often confined by fencing and they may be forced to drink from ponds that can have cyanobacterial blooms.
Marine mammals, such as southern sea otters, may also be poisoned by cyanobacterial toxins. In 2007, 21 sea otters were killed by cyanotoxins flowing into Monterey Bay from a river with a large cyanobacterial bloom. Learn more about these sea otters.
Mammals who are exposed to cyanotoxins may experience the following signs, depending on how much they are exposed to:
- Excessive salivation
- Vomiting
- Fatigue
- Staggered walking
- Difficulty breathing
- Convulsions
- Liver failure
- Death within hours or days
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