[Dailydrool] Claude's Rimadyl Adventure

[cbradley]

Seth left Otis' chewable Rimadyl on the table the other day and luckily I
saw Claude chewing on the bottle and was able to rescue it. So I stuck the
bottle back in the safe tub. A couple of days later, I let the dogs all out
and went upstairs to start coffee. Otis came up but Claude and Marie stayed
in the basement. Maybe 10 minutes later, I got suspicious and went to check
it out.  Claude had knocked the "safe tub" off the table - I'm still not
sure how he reached it, as it was pushed so far back. Marie was eating a bag
of treats from the tub and Claude was feasting on the Rimadyl. There were
maybe 10 left out of 40 or 50.

Seth immediately called the emergency line for the vet and we were pouring a
mixture of mustard, hydrogen peroxide, and water down his throat. He didn't
throw up but he sure wasn't happy about the process. When the vet got to the
clinic maybe 20 minutes later (we live in a rural area), Claude still hadn't
hurled. We went in and the vet gave him something else, and Claude still
held out. FINALLY he started to vomit - all over the place.

We left him for a few hours then brought him home. He seemed really quiet
and wouldn't eat much that day or the next, and had diarrhea, so we took him
back and they stuck him on an IV to get him hydrated. He had to spend the
night there and we were so worried.

We got him back the next day, and he was his ornery, active little self.
They did some tests and while his kidney and liver functions were a bit
elevated, they weren't bad. So it looks like he's back and we narrowly
averted tragedy. And the first thing Seth did was order the non-chewable
rimadyl.

Seth & Christie Bradley in Hood River, OR
Jean Claude & Marie (basset), Otis (lab), Java, Storm, and Carly (cats),
Chauncey & Toby (goats)