Doggie 911

Yesterday our pooch, LuLu, gave me quite a scare. She jumped our barrier gate (which she does effortlessly) and headed upstairs while I wasn't looking. After noticing that she was no longer downstairs, I went up to retrieve her only to find pills and a tube of toothpaste scattered across my bedroom floor. Evidently, our beloved puppy somehow got my husband's pill case and a tube of Crest off our bathroom countertop.

My first thought was "Oh crap, there goes another tube of toothpaste!" (she's been chewing numerous tubes up these days) followed by "OMG, how many pills did she ingest?" I quickly ran downstairs to see if she was acting lethargic (some of the pills were high blood pressure meds) and then frantically called our vet. Unfortunately, our vet is not open on Sundays but they did have an emergency number to call.

I called the after hours number only to be told that I should call the ASPCA's Animal Poison Control Center. I didn't even know there was a special poison hotline dedicated to pets. But it makes sense, I'm sure my dog is not they only canine to get into medicines and or other harmful items. Anyway, I called and for a $60 consultation fee, spoke to a very kind and knowledgeable vet. I told her the names of the meds that LuLu may/may not have eaten and told the vet her weight and breed. Thankfully the medicines and quantities that she possibly ingested would not do her any harm. She said that Lulu may experience nausea if she ingested the pills on an empty stomach but that would be the worst of it. With that said, my blood pressure came down.

This whole little incident reminded me how much I love this little four-legged friend and of how I should now add pet poison control to my list of emergency numbers. And better yet, to create that list of emergency numbers and have it readily available. To those of you with pets, who like me were clueless, be sure to add this number to your emergency list 1-800-548-2423.