Charleston, SC (August 9, 2012)  Living the quintessential Charleston lifestyle for many families and their pets includes beach time, boats and swimming.  The emergency team at CVRC sees cases of saltwater intoxication every summer, so Dr. Kristin Welch, head of our Emergency and Critical Care Department, wants to remind everyone about this danger to our pets.

Our ocean water has 3.5% dissolved salts, 90% of which is sodium chloride. That means for a typical Labrador Retriever, swallowing as little as 2-3 cups of saltwater could be toxic; less than 1 gallon of saltwater would be fatal. Once ingested, the salt is rapidly absorbed, resulting in symptoms within 30-60 minutes.