Dog Diversion

The last couple of weeks were tough for Grace the Dog. It started with a fully sedated dental visit. Like a lot of old animals, she had a four teeth that needed to go and rest needed cleaning. Grace also had two fatty lipomas the Vet wanted to remove. So while the pup was in the depths of a narco-dream, all that work got done. It was an all-day stay at the clinic, and when we picked her up, she was wearing a big blue “Cone of shame.”

Cone Dog.

Grace wasn’t real keen on the e-collar. When we got home, we switched her into a shirt that covered the incisions on her chest and then started the regimen of pharmaceuticals and special soft diet for her two week recovery. Part of the pain management was a ten day supply of chewable carprofen tablets which, to our surprise, was the only thing Grace wanted to eat. I guess they are better than actual chicken or hamburger, or random mouthfuls of dirt and grass.

The first full day went okay. Grace was inclined to spend her time lounging in the sun, and snoring like a chainsaw. Her back legs were not steady when she was doped up, so potty breaks were a challenge. Eating was hit or miss.

When The Captain got home from work, given the dog’s sedated condition, we thought it would be okay to pop out for a quick bite of dinner. An hour later, when we came home, it was time to dose the dog with one of the three meds. I collected the required pill bottle and coaxed the dog into taking the capsule. When I finished, I put the container back on the counter with the others, and it was then that I noticed the pill bottle count was wrong. There should be three, but I could only find two.

It didn’t take long to locate the evidence and identify the new problem. In the short time we were gone, Grace the Dog had managed some unbelievable doped-up counter surfing and snagged the bottle of tasty chewable carprofen tablets. She carried them to her favorite treat-sneaking spot by the fireplace, and chomped the plastic bottle hard enough, even with a sore mouth, to pop the lid. Then she ate the remaining 13 1/2 tablets.

Dope Dog.

A phone call to the Vet got the answering service and a recording suggesting a call to animal poison control. I dialed the number while The Captain did an internet search for treatments. “Thank you for calling, please have your credit card ready, the weight of your pet, and the name and quantity of the ingested substance…”

The Captain had an answer before me, but the path forward suggested by the internet search and the $85 call to the poison experts was pretty clear. Grace consumed double the toxic dose, and a trip to the veterinary hospital was urgently needed. Grace spent the next three days in doggy ICU getting IV fluids and a drug to block the uptake of the carprofen.

Thanks to quick recognition of the problem, and liberal application of the credit card, Grace the Dog survived the experience and is back home. After an extended period of recovery, where she rejected anything resembling the food she was supposed to eat, refused the e-collar cone, and kept me up most nights with midnight rambling, she is now as good as new. Or as good as a ten year old Weimaraner can be.

So the lesson for all dog owners: keep the meds in a place that the dog can’t possibly reach, ever. If you have a choice, don’t get the chewable carprofen tablets, either.

Dogs laugh at your “child resistant” containers.