rthstewart (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rthstewart) wrote2013-10-02 09:27 am
rthstewart) wrote2013-10-02 09:27 am
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And then the dogs barfed
So amidst all the stress in our area, yesterday I came home early (fortunately) and discovered that one or both of our dogs (Corgi and Lab) had consumed a 30 count bottle of blood pressure medication my pharmacy had thoughtfully pushed through the mail slot.
What followed was a harrowing afternoon and evening, including frantic calls to the vet and the Pet Poison Prevention Helpline. There was a frantic speeding violative drive to the pharmacy to buy more and unexpired hydrogen peroxide, then ramming tablespoons of it down their respective throats and then sifting through the resulting vomit looking for pills. I ended up being concerned enough to drive them to a 24 ER care for monitoring where the Lab's blood pressure was fine but the Corgi's was low. I am very glad I kept them at the ER because once I got home, I realized that in fact the dogs, and probably the much smaller Corgi (30 lb/14 kg) had eaten 90 pills, not 30, plus the plastic cap, thereby taking them out of the boderline range into the really serious area.
Fortunately, the drug is relatively low in toxicity and has a very short half-life in dogs, with no kidney or liver involvement. If you can keep their blood pressure up and their heart going, the drug will clear in about 8 hours. So, the waiting began, with them both receiving continuous IV fluids and the vets prepared to administer stimulant therapy if needed if severe hypotension occurred, which fortunately it did not.
At 1 AM, I was able to bring them both home. Yeah, really relieved, and so tired, and damn, that was scary.
What followed was a harrowing afternoon and evening, including frantic calls to the vet and the Pet Poison Prevention Helpline. There was a frantic speeding violative drive to the pharmacy to buy more and unexpired hydrogen peroxide, then ramming tablespoons of it down their respective throats and then sifting through the resulting vomit looking for pills. I ended up being concerned enough to drive them to a 24 ER care for monitoring where the Lab's blood pressure was fine but the Corgi's was low. I am very glad I kept them at the ER because once I got home, I realized that in fact the dogs, and probably the much smaller Corgi (30 lb/14 kg) had eaten 90 pills, not 30, plus the plastic cap, thereby taking them out of the boderline range into the really serious area.
Fortunately, the drug is relatively low in toxicity and has a very short half-life in dogs, with no kidney or liver involvement. If you can keep their blood pressure up and their heart going, the drug will clear in about 8 hours. So, the waiting began, with them both receiving continuous IV fluids and the vets prepared to administer stimulant therapy if needed if severe hypotension occurred, which fortunately it did not.
At 1 AM, I was able to bring them both home. Yeah, really relieved, and so tired, and damn, that was scary.
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