The last 18 or so hours
At around one thirty yesterday, I stopped in at the vet to refill Relampago's prescriptions. He's on three medications.
First, he's on Enacard, which is an ACE inhibitor. It's supposed to dilate the veins and help get rid of excess fluid and generally helps Relampago with his high blood pressure.
Second, I got Lasix which is a diuretic, which helps him remove excess fluid from his body. He has to pee a lot while he's on it, but he also drinks a lot. He's on a smaller dosage than he started, but he seems to be doing well.
Finally, there is Vetmedin, which is another heart medication. It's supposed to help take pressure off of his heart and increase his ability to pump blood.
This medication was the reason I stopped by the vet's office at lunch. When we first got the medication two weeks ago, the vet's office only had the 1.25 mg tablets, and I was having to give Relampago 5 of those a day. The vet thought she could get a higher dosage tablet (5 mg) so I didn't have to give him as many, so she only gave me a week's worth when we went to the vet last week. We were running out yesterday, so I figured I'd refill all of his other prescriptions at the same time. They gave me 30 days worth of pills for all three prescriptions yesterday. The first two medications look like ordinary white pills. The final one, Vetmedin, looks like a doggie vitamin and/or horse pill. It's brown and big and oval.
Somewhere around 6:09 or so, I left my office and started for home. I probably got home around 6:30. I had a pile of stuff to bring in from the car, including the drugs. I threw it all on the chair right next to my front door: my backpack, my purse, a rain coat, some bits of paper, the paperback I'm reading right now, and the bag containing Relampago's prescription.
I spent the next hour getting the dogs organized, said hi to Athena, and then I paid my monthly bills online. Most of the paper bills were in my backpack, so I had to grab a bunch of stuff out of there from that chair. I moved around, though, a lot from room to room.
Around 7:20, I fed the dogs, and I started boiling water for some pasta for myself. My plan was to have some macaroni and cheese for dinner.
At 7:44, right before my pasta was done, my home phone rang. Claudia was stressing out about a work e-mail that she had to write and wanted to grab some dinner. I told her about my pasta, but I assured her that I could put it in the fridge. She said she'd come get me.
At approximately 8:00, I gave Crianza a pupperoni and Relampago some of his dried liver and I got into Claudia's car to go to dinner. We had a few beers and barbeque (her) and hamburgers (me) at Beavers.
At 9:47, Claudia dropped me off at my house and I called my friend Buttery, who'd left a message for me at 6:10 while I was on the elevator at work. I walked into my front door, and I found that someone* had pulled out the bag of prescriptions, eaten through the top of the bottle that contained the Vetmedin and 17 of the 30 pills that had been dispensed ealier that day were gone. None of the other bottles were touched.
Crianza and Relampago greeted me as they usually do. They were both excited and happy to see me.
At 9:52, as I was driving to Walgreens to get hydrogen peroxide, I called Claudia to ask her how she dispenses hydrogen peroxide to Holden. She said she uses a turkey baster. I briefly explained what happened. She hung up and said she'd look around for a syringe.
At 9:58, I had a similar discussion with Liv about Chicken's recent adventures.
When I got home, I poured some hydrogen peroxide down Crianza's throat. She didn't swallow it. I then poured some in a bowl with some milk. She drank some of it, then stayed away from it. She was very sweet to me, though, sitting and staying as she was told to. I was still on the phone with Liv, and my home phone rang at 10:03. My father was calling to see what was going on. He suggested continuing the hydrogen peroxide.
I poured some more in her throat, and she swallowed it. She almost immediately threw up this white mucasy stuff. She then threw some more up. She hid under the bed. I inspected her vomit, and I found probably three or four pills, but they were rapidly disintegrating. I pulled her out from under the bed and she threw up a third time. This was brown and liquid. There was no telling how many pills I got out of her.
My mom called and told me to call my vet. I called my vet and the vet's office was closed but gave the emergency vet's number. I called the emergency vet** and explained what was going on. The emergency vet told me to call animal poison control and get a case number and then bring her it. At 10:26, I called poison control. I walked Dr. Dolder through what had happened, and she started looking into the medication and what more I should do. Vetmedin, it turns out, is a very new medicine. It was approved by the FDA on May 16, 2007, and it is unclear what an overdose would do to a healthy dog. Because I wasn't sure exactly how much she'd thrown up, the poison control vet said it'd be a good idea to bring her in.
Crianza hid in the bathroom. She looked tired and sick, but I was pretty sure that was because of the hydrogen peroxide, not necessarily the drugs. Still, I was pretty upset. Around 10:45ish, my mom showed up at the house, and I told her we were going to the emergency room. Crianza barked at my mom when the door opened, but she wasn't all that peppy. I gave Relampago his nightly medication.
In the car on the way to the ER, I called Graham at 10:52 to tell him what was going on. Liv called at 10:58 for an update. I told her that animal poison control did not charge me the normal $60 consultation fee because the drug manufacturer picked it up.
I think we got to the ER around 11:05ish. I filled out forms and explained again what had happened to the woman at the desk, giving the poison control case number. Fortunately, the ER was pretty quiet, and we were the only patients there at that time as far as I could tell. We were put in a room, and a vet tech asked a lot of questions about the incident and Crianza's general health: allergies, medications, diet, weight. The tech told me that Crianza's forearm would probably have to be shaved to take her blood pressure. I said that was fine. Crianza was taken to the back.
We waited in the exam room for about half an hour, and then the vet, Dr. Spargo, came in to tell us that he would like to keep Crianza overnight to put her on fluids, give her some activated charcoal to help absorb whatever is in her system, and generally observe her. He said that because the drug is so new, there isn't that much data on what happens to a dog like this. He estimated that she probably had about 6 mg per kilo in her system. The one case study was a lab who had about 8 mg per kilo (and therefore must have eaten a whole lot more than 17 pills), and the regimine was about the same. I had to come back to pick her up before 7:30 the next morning, because that's when the emergency vet closes. We agreed to the course of action, and decided not to go in to see Crianza before we left because she'd get her heart all excited.
Liv texed me at 12:49, and I called her back to explain what was going on. I went to sleep shortly thereafter.
At 1:00 Crianza was given her first dosage of activated charcoal. Her heartrate was about 160.
At around 4:30, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep.
At 5:51, my alarm went off.
At 6:00 she was given her second dosage of activated charcoal. Her heartrate was about 160.
At 6:30, I gave Relampago a tummy rub, fed him, and otherwise gave him love. Same for Athena. I got dressed.
At 6:45, I gave Relampago his morning medication and some dried beef liver, and I left the house.
I got to the ER around 7:00. There was a woman there crying and talking about a German Shephard and not knowing what was wrong. I waited.
At around 7:10, two women came out of an exam room and told me about their Schnauser who'd started having siezures around 1:00 this morning.
At 7:15, I went into an exam room, and the vet came in about 5 mintues later to tell me that Crianza looked ok, but that I should take her to my vet. He told me that her records had already been faxed to our vet. Crianza came in a minute later with a purple bandage on her arm. The tech told me that the cathater was still in there, in case my vet decided to keep her on fluids.
As we were leaving, there was a beagle also leaving. He couldn't walk, so he was on a dog bed on top of a cart. He also had a bandage on his arm, but he looked comfortable. The woman with the German Shephard was still crying, but now she had people with her who were crying, a teenaged boy and a man. Crianza and I were glad to get out of there. When we drove away, we saw one of the Schnauser women walking the dog outside.
At 7:35, I woke up Graham and told him what was going on.
At about 7:50, we got to my vet. Crianza didn't want to be there. She kept on pulling for the door. I did let her outside, and she pooped. I think that she got some of the charcoal through. We went back inside.
At 8:10 or so, I left the vet's office without having talked to a vet. The techs said that she'd be taken care of. My dad called at 8:11 to find out what was going on.
At 8:21, I started my heartrate monitor at the gym.
At 9:06, Dr. O'Malley at my vet's called and left a message that she'd talked to the cardiologists at Texas A&M and the drug manufacturer about the overdose of the drug. She said that everything that we'd done so far looked great. It looks like she's doing fine. The drug company said that there's a 24 hour window, and if there are no complications 24 hours post ingestion, things should be fine. They're doing continued monitoring. They're checking her ECG and her blood pressure and doing bloodwork. The three concerns are compromise to the kidneys, low blood pressure (because it dilates the vessels) and arrhythmia, so they're going to make sure her heart rate is good throughout the day. She doesn't need to continue the fluids, unless there's a complication. They're doing the blood pressure and ECG this morning and this afternoon, and she should be able to go home between five and six this evening. It sounded like she's doing fine.
At 9:11, my friend Buttery called and left a message while I was in the gym shower.
I called her back at 9:26 and gave her an update.
I called Graham at 9:31 and gave him an update.
At 9:45 I got the message from the vet. She said she'd call later this afternoon with an update.
*I knew that it was Crianza because this was the type of thing she does. Relampago wouldn't have been able to pull the bag out from under the backpack from the angles he has access.
**The emergency vet's number has been on my refrigerator the entire time I've lived at my house. I've never had to call it.
First, he's on Enacard, which is an ACE inhibitor. It's supposed to dilate the veins and help get rid of excess fluid and generally helps Relampago with his high blood pressure.
Second, I got Lasix which is a diuretic, which helps him remove excess fluid from his body. He has to pee a lot while he's on it, but he also drinks a lot. He's on a smaller dosage than he started, but he seems to be doing well.
Finally, there is Vetmedin, which is another heart medication. It's supposed to help take pressure off of his heart and increase his ability to pump blood.
This medication was the reason I stopped by the vet's office at lunch. When we first got the medication two weeks ago, the vet's office only had the 1.25 mg tablets, and I was having to give Relampago 5 of those a day. The vet thought she could get a higher dosage tablet (5 mg) so I didn't have to give him as many, so she only gave me a week's worth when we went to the vet last week. We were running out yesterday, so I figured I'd refill all of his other prescriptions at the same time. They gave me 30 days worth of pills for all three prescriptions yesterday. The first two medications look like ordinary white pills. The final one, Vetmedin, looks like a doggie vitamin and/or horse pill. It's brown and big and oval.
Somewhere around 6:09 or so, I left my office and started for home. I probably got home around 6:30. I had a pile of stuff to bring in from the car, including the drugs. I threw it all on the chair right next to my front door: my backpack, my purse, a rain coat, some bits of paper, the paperback I'm reading right now, and the bag containing Relampago's prescription.
I spent the next hour getting the dogs organized, said hi to Athena, and then I paid my monthly bills online. Most of the paper bills were in my backpack, so I had to grab a bunch of stuff out of there from that chair. I moved around, though, a lot from room to room.
Around 7:20, I fed the dogs, and I started boiling water for some pasta for myself. My plan was to have some macaroni and cheese for dinner.
At 7:44, right before my pasta was done, my home phone rang. Claudia was stressing out about a work e-mail that she had to write and wanted to grab some dinner. I told her about my pasta, but I assured her that I could put it in the fridge. She said she'd come get me.
At approximately 8:00, I gave Crianza a pupperoni and Relampago some of his dried liver and I got into Claudia's car to go to dinner. We had a few beers and barbeque (her) and hamburgers (me) at Beavers.
At 9:47, Claudia dropped me off at my house and I called my friend Buttery, who'd left a message for me at 6:10 while I was on the elevator at work. I walked into my front door, and I found that someone* had pulled out the bag of prescriptions, eaten through the top of the bottle that contained the Vetmedin and 17 of the 30 pills that had been dispensed ealier that day were gone. None of the other bottles were touched.
Crianza and Relampago greeted me as they usually do. They were both excited and happy to see me.
At 9:52, as I was driving to Walgreens to get hydrogen peroxide, I called Claudia to ask her how she dispenses hydrogen peroxide to Holden. She said she uses a turkey baster. I briefly explained what happened. She hung up and said she'd look around for a syringe.
At 9:58, I had a similar discussion with Liv about Chicken's recent adventures.
When I got home, I poured some hydrogen peroxide down Crianza's throat. She didn't swallow it. I then poured some in a bowl with some milk. She drank some of it, then stayed away from it. She was very sweet to me, though, sitting and staying as she was told to. I was still on the phone with Liv, and my home phone rang at 10:03. My father was calling to see what was going on. He suggested continuing the hydrogen peroxide.
I poured some more in her throat, and she swallowed it. She almost immediately threw up this white mucasy stuff. She then threw some more up. She hid under the bed. I inspected her vomit, and I found probably three or four pills, but they were rapidly disintegrating. I pulled her out from under the bed and she threw up a third time. This was brown and liquid. There was no telling how many pills I got out of her.
My mom called and told me to call my vet. I called my vet and the vet's office was closed but gave the emergency vet's number. I called the emergency vet** and explained what was going on. The emergency vet told me to call animal poison control and get a case number and then bring her it. At 10:26, I called poison control. I walked Dr. Dolder through what had happened, and she started looking into the medication and what more I should do. Vetmedin, it turns out, is a very new medicine. It was approved by the FDA on May 16, 2007, and it is unclear what an overdose would do to a healthy dog. Because I wasn't sure exactly how much she'd thrown up, the poison control vet said it'd be a good idea to bring her in.
Crianza hid in the bathroom. She looked tired and sick, but I was pretty sure that was because of the hydrogen peroxide, not necessarily the drugs. Still, I was pretty upset. Around 10:45ish, my mom showed up at the house, and I told her we were going to the emergency room. Crianza barked at my mom when the door opened, but she wasn't all that peppy. I gave Relampago his nightly medication.
In the car on the way to the ER, I called Graham at 10:52 to tell him what was going on. Liv called at 10:58 for an update. I told her that animal poison control did not charge me the normal $60 consultation fee because the drug manufacturer picked it up.
I think we got to the ER around 11:05ish. I filled out forms and explained again what had happened to the woman at the desk, giving the poison control case number. Fortunately, the ER was pretty quiet, and we were the only patients there at that time as far as I could tell. We were put in a room, and a vet tech asked a lot of questions about the incident and Crianza's general health: allergies, medications, diet, weight. The tech told me that Crianza's forearm would probably have to be shaved to take her blood pressure. I said that was fine. Crianza was taken to the back.
We waited in the exam room for about half an hour, and then the vet, Dr. Spargo, came in to tell us that he would like to keep Crianza overnight to put her on fluids, give her some activated charcoal to help absorb whatever is in her system, and generally observe her. He said that because the drug is so new, there isn't that much data on what happens to a dog like this. He estimated that she probably had about 6 mg per kilo in her system. The one case study was a lab who had about 8 mg per kilo (and therefore must have eaten a whole lot more than 17 pills), and the regimine was about the same. I had to come back to pick her up before 7:30 the next morning, because that's when the emergency vet closes. We agreed to the course of action, and decided not to go in to see Crianza before we left because she'd get her heart all excited.
Liv texed me at 12:49, and I called her back to explain what was going on. I went to sleep shortly thereafter.
At 1:00 Crianza was given her first dosage of activated charcoal. Her heartrate was about 160.
At around 4:30, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep.
At 5:51, my alarm went off.
At 6:00 she was given her second dosage of activated charcoal. Her heartrate was about 160.
At 6:30, I gave Relampago a tummy rub, fed him, and otherwise gave him love. Same for Athena. I got dressed.
At 6:45, I gave Relampago his morning medication and some dried beef liver, and I left the house.
I got to the ER around 7:00. There was a woman there crying and talking about a German Shephard and not knowing what was wrong. I waited.
At around 7:10, two women came out of an exam room and told me about their Schnauser who'd started having siezures around 1:00 this morning.
At 7:15, I went into an exam room, and the vet came in about 5 mintues later to tell me that Crianza looked ok, but that I should take her to my vet. He told me that her records had already been faxed to our vet. Crianza came in a minute later with a purple bandage on her arm. The tech told me that the cathater was still in there, in case my vet decided to keep her on fluids.
As we were leaving, there was a beagle also leaving. He couldn't walk, so he was on a dog bed on top of a cart. He also had a bandage on his arm, but he looked comfortable. The woman with the German Shephard was still crying, but now she had people with her who were crying, a teenaged boy and a man. Crianza and I were glad to get out of there. When we drove away, we saw one of the Schnauser women walking the dog outside.
At 7:35, I woke up Graham and told him what was going on.
At about 7:50, we got to my vet. Crianza didn't want to be there. She kept on pulling for the door. I did let her outside, and she pooped. I think that she got some of the charcoal through. We went back inside.
At 8:10 or so, I left the vet's office without having talked to a vet. The techs said that she'd be taken care of. My dad called at 8:11 to find out what was going on.
At 8:21, I started my heartrate monitor at the gym.
At 9:06, Dr. O'Malley at my vet's called and left a message that she'd talked to the cardiologists at Texas A&M and the drug manufacturer about the overdose of the drug. She said that everything that we'd done so far looked great. It looks like she's doing fine. The drug company said that there's a 24 hour window, and if there are no complications 24 hours post ingestion, things should be fine. They're doing continued monitoring. They're checking her ECG and her blood pressure and doing bloodwork. The three concerns are compromise to the kidneys, low blood pressure (because it dilates the vessels) and arrhythmia, so they're going to make sure her heart rate is good throughout the day. She doesn't need to continue the fluids, unless there's a complication. They're doing the blood pressure and ECG this morning and this afternoon, and she should be able to go home between five and six this evening. It sounded like she's doing fine.
At 9:11, my friend Buttery called and left a message while I was in the gym shower.
I called her back at 9:26 and gave her an update.
I called Graham at 9:31 and gave him an update.
At 9:45 I got the message from the vet. She said she'd call later this afternoon with an update.
*I knew that it was Crianza because this was the type of thing she does. Relampago wouldn't have been able to pull the bag out from under the backpack from the angles he has access.
**The emergency vet's number has been on my refrigerator the entire time I've lived at my house. I've never had to call it.