Cases of mouse bait ingestion in dogs are at a record high, after the plague has shown no signs of slowing down.

Mudgee Vet Hospital veterinarian Jack Holman has never seen anything like it.

"Since the start of the year, things have been ramping up, but it's really been in the last two months, where we have seen around five to six cases a day," he said.

"To give a comparison, the last 12 months prior to Christmas, we probably saw six rat bait cases over that entire 12 months, compared to around 200 after the Christmas period in the last few months."

After ingestion, dogs can present symptoms of lethargy, as well as bleeding through their nose or mouth, according to Dr Holman.

"But they can present in all different ways, shapes and forms. Sometimes it's very obvious, sometimes it's not so obvious."

Most cases of bait ingestion can be resolved easily if symptoms are noticed early, however Dr Holman said there have been recent instances where blood and plasma transfusions were necessary.

"We've probably given around 30-odd blood transfusions, dogs, and we never used to have canine plasma on hand," he said.

"But blood isn't readily available. We're really struggling to get enough blood to have on hand to give a blood transfusion."

The Mudgee Vet Hospital has put a call out to people whose dogs fit the criteria to donate much-needed blood.

Dr Holman has advised dog-owners to keep any mouse or rat bait well out of reach of cats and dogs.

"The other part of it is definitely dealing with the dead mice that are incurring, as a result of the rat bait. So always picking up the dead mice and not letting your animals have access to dead mice is crucial but obviously a very tricky situation," he said.

"If you have rat bait around just as a precaution, just monitor your animals overall health and attitude. Making sure they're happy, eating and drinking normally and they have nice pink gums."

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