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A scary weekend with Madison

Love my Cavaliers

Well-known member
My husband and I went out for dinner and a movie on Thursday night and came home to a chewed up bottle of Advil with Advil capsules all over the rug, a chewed up rubber plant, and several places of vomit on the floor. The dogs are confined in three rooms when we are gone (family room, kitchen and dining room - actually, it's all one big room), but I had left my purse on the floor in the kitchen, something I never do. I know it was zipped, but it must not have been completely closed. I assumed Oz, my little troublemaker and chewer, had somehow gotten into my purse and taken out the bottle and started having a grand old time chewing. The bottle held 20 capsules and there were 11 on the carpet, and I know I had used some. So, i think at the most there were 4-6 gone. Also, the one living plant I have in my house also got knocked over and about 1/3 of the leaves had been chewed. The vomit I saw had only pieces of plant material in it - I did not see any Advil.

When we returned, I called the emergency hospital. Since I assumed Oz, as the baby, was the culprit they told me to induce vomiting with hydrogen peroxide and to monitor him overnight. Needless to say, he was bright and perky in the morning, but Madison seemed a little off. There was also a lot more vomit in the room they sleep in - again containing a lot of plant leaves. Madison wouldn't eat breakfast (and she is a regular chow hound) and just layed around. I took her to the vet in the early afternoon because she was definitely off and getting more lethargic. They immediately sent her to be admitted to the hospital with early kidney failure. She must have been the one to eat the Advil instead of Oz. The plant is non-toxic, but could cause stomach irritation. They gave her IV hydration and medicated her. She spent two nights in the hospital because she also developed a GI bleed. She came home Sunday night and is doing really well, just on some GI meds for her stomach. Her kidney function has returned to normal and she is perky and her old self.

So, although all turned out well for her, I was so scared and angry at myself for leaving my purse where they could get it. I would have had a hard time forgiving myself if she had any lasting effects from this. I still think it was Oz who was the instigator of this little escapade, so it's back to training with him about leaving things. And believe me, I will be more careful about leaving things around. Also, just a reminder - child-proof medication tops are no match for a dogs teeth!
 
You must have been so scared...don't be angry with yourself it could have happened to any one of us.

Glad all is well with Madison now.
 
Wow that's scary! Glad all is well and I hope with no lasting effects.

To be honest, you really cannot reliably train a dog to leave things especially when you are not there. Best approach is always the safest one of only ever putting dogs in a space that is clear of absolutely anything that could be dangerous or that people don't want chewed, including cords, toys, shoes, books, handbags, etc., even something on a shelf can be knocked off unexpectedly, and some dogs can really jump.

This is why I so strongly and continually advocate people never ever leave their dogs with the run of a full house when they are gone -- as so many things are there for the taking in a house. All it takes is one small oversight or one time the dog does something it 'never does' for a tragedy to strike.

Thanks for the reminder that we always need to be so, so careful!! :flwr:
 
How scary!!! I am so glad she's all right.

Thanks for the reminder that we need to be so careful with these little guys.
 
Oh gosh....I was holding my breath reading your story!! Thank God they are both okay. I keep an unopened bottle of peroxide (thanks so much to Christine for this!!) and a syringe in my car and my house. When you need it...you need it NOW!

As careful as we try to be we can't prevent accidents from happening. Thanks for the reminder. I try to never put my purse where the dogs can get it and have guests put theirs up on the counter, never ever on the floor. I've heard of this happening so much lately, just scares me to death.

Thank goodness Madison is going to be okay!!
 
Thank goodness it looks like everyone will be okay. Yikes! But, everyone is right. Don't beat yourself up. I worry constantly about my dog's safety and I confine mine to the kitchen when I am gone. But, I have found stray pills on the floor (my mom dropped her meds while she was here and couldn't find them all...but Kaya did! Thankfully at 100 lbs, any dose she gets, as long as the medicine isn't toxic for dogs, would be close to correct for her anyway, unlike a tiny cav) and Bandit has learned how to jump up ON the kitchen table, so nothing up there is safe, anymore. All we can do is be vigilant...much like we have a toddler in the house, and never trust their training when it comes to safety. Like kids, they can do the darndest things!
 
Yikes.. don't be angry with yourself it can happen to any of us.. So glad they are all ok :)
Accidents happen that's just life but at least this has a happy ending!!
 
You must have gotten a fright when you got home :flwr:
Dont blame yourself, these things happen and thankfully all ended well.
Poor Oz must have wondered what you were doing to him :eek::)
 
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Thanks for the reminder, its so easy to leave things hanging around just for a little while cos we know 'they would never touch it.' Glad to hear everything turned out well. Best wishes.
 
I am always after my daughters to keep their purses out of reach, ie off the floor. They're good about it 90% of the time, but clearly that's not good enough. Thanks for the reminder for me to strive for 100%.... I will relay this story to them.

I'm so glad things turned out okay. Scary story....
 
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