Saturday, February 11, 2012

Day 30, 31, 32, 33, of 365

A WARNING for RAD DOG LOVERS
I have been... Not working around my illness, but trying to MOW through it! (Thank you Rick for the quote). I have been setting up for a craft sale to sell all of my stamping, and scrapping supplies. I sold about 1/2 of it...? Maybe 2/3... so I am keeping it set up for the people who could not make it.... but, it is what happened while setting up, that I feel the need to warn dog owners about. During Friday- two major appliances went out, the AC, and the Garage door opener. Two servicemen, in the house, we put the dogs in the bedroom, to keep them secure. (We knew the service men--).. but it is still easier then having dogs under foot. While they were servicing and determining we need a new AC AND a new Garage door opener, Annie my black lab got into a tube of Voltaren Gel. I was so busy that I didn't think it was serious, (something I rarely do- and dismissed it for a few hours)- Annie started to vomit, her last vomit looked like coffee grounds, Tom being a paramedic explained this was bad, because it meant blood in her stomach, I called poison control, they said to get her to ER. I called my Vet, on her cell phone, I have NEVER done that before---she is my friend, and I draw a boundary between friend and doctor for my dogs. I called her as a friend, what ER do I go to... she answered the phone, "Kim- what is wrong?" Because she knew, I never would call her like that. She told me which animal hospital to go to, Palm Beach Veterinary Specialists and told me what they would do---she had just recently done a lot of research on Voltaren and was very familiar with it.The gel can cause kidney damage in dogs, and ulcers. Since it is in a
gel form it is absorbed quickly. We called the ER, told them the situation and we were there by 9pm. Annie was her usual crazy lab self, and they kept asking is this "normal" yes- we said, she is a "high energy" dog... however, at home, she threw up 5 times, the last one looking like coffee grounds, we called poison control, and basically told me exactly what my personal vet had told me, they needed to flush her kidneys, calm her stomach and do blood work to see if her kidneys have been harmed. The first night, (I could not sleep) I called and spoke to her nurse, Jessie.. numerous times, he was very calming and I knew Annie was in good hands, he had a lab at home, and he thought they might be litter mates. He liked Annie a lot. He also figured her out and knew you had to be firm and Annie was used to having you be the Alpha, I put all over her chart-- NO BABY TALK to her, she will only get excited. Annie is still in the hospital, she may be able to come home on Monday- the next set of blood work, done will determine if there was damage to the kidneys and where to go from there. She had a fever this morning, but none since. She is eating small bits of food and has stopped vomiting and her stools are normal. She is doing a lot of sleeping.  The Vet, had never seen this gel, she said she was researching it and wanted to caution people that the gel is highly concentrated and if we had waited a day or days, Annie's kidneys could have been damaged severely. (I left the bottle with them) So- heads up- to whomever uses this gel, do not let your dog lick it off of you, do not leave a tube where a dog can get to it. And by all means, if you think the dog has gotten in to it, ER care immediately.  In the meantime, I told the ER vet that my personal vet had researched it, and she said she would definitely be communicating with her to see what she has discovered. I would imagine this is a warning for cat lovers as well---  Lesson learned, a hard way--- but, passing my knowledge on to you-- I feel confident, Annie is getting the best care, I will sleep tonight--- and check on her in the morning, but, should I awaken during the night, she is only a phone call away...
Thank you can never be enough to my personal Vet and Friend, You know who you are! And Thank you to the Staff at Palm Beach Veterinary Specialists for understanding that Annie is a family member.

Never leave that 'til tomorrow which you can do today.- Benjamin Franklin 

Blessings and give all of your dogs and cats extra love tonight--- Kim

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