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Monday, December 06, 2010

recovering chocoholic

 

Someone hit rock bottom this week and is now in recovery for chocolate addiction.

 

Surprisingly, I’m not talking about myself here.

 

I’m talking about one very fuzzy puppy who gave his parents a big scare and ended up spending his first night ever {and hopefully last} in the animal hospital(!)

 

 

I’ll set up the scene for you:

It was about 11 o’clock at night last Thursday. I had laid all of my things out for the next morning and put everything in my “pharmacy bag” I would need for the next 3 days at work. This included a HUGE Lindt dark chocolate truffle bar – because stressed spells desserts backwards and those desserts become very handy when dealing with the general public and their medication needs =)

Nick had already been in bed since 9:30 since he is now waking up around 5 am for work. I was completely wired with Christmas crafts and laundry all over the master bed waiting for me to fold, so he had resorted to the guest bedroom downstairs to get some rest.

I was starting to tucker out and decided to get my shower in before bed. When I got out of the shower, I noticed some shredded up papers in our bedroom floor. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the paper shred led under the bed and to my horror, I recognized the papers as the wrapper of my candy bar, of which there wasn’t a single crumb of chocolate left.

I knew just how poisonous chocolate is to dogs, that dark chocolate is the deadliest, and that my 11 pound dog had just eaten a GIANT size bar of it. I immediately began to hyperventilate.

I ran downstairs to wake Nick up with something completely frantic and incoherent. He didn’t understand, but surprisingly, jumped up pretty quick – I didn’t spit it out clearly but HE KNEW something was very wrong.

In a panic, I tried to explain to him what happened.

He was sleepy and skeptical once he was up. I don’t think he wanted to jump to any serious conclusions and he tried to reason that the dog possibly had not actually eaten the chocolate bar. At one point he said something about it “slipping out of the wrapper and he just chewed up the papers”. He actually got down under the bed looking for the missing chocolate. To his credit, there was absolutely no sign of chocolate on Hendrix’s face when usually the evidence is written all over that furry beard of his.

On the other hand, I was completely alarmed and waiting not so patiently for him to join me in my frantic panic. I could smell the chocolate on the dog’s breath. Nick couldn’t. We’ll chalk this one up as one of the only positives of the raging female hormones =)

 

Nick started searching on the computer for info about chocolate poisoning and I ran for the peroxide to try and induce vomiting.

{This only works for pets! Don’t try this on little people!!}

 

I got a dosing syringe that I had brought home from work just in case something like this ever happened {thank goodness} and filled it with peroxide. I needed to get at least a couple of teaspoons in him, but after only 1/2 a teaspoon, Hendrix, the 11 pound dog, was putting up too big of a vicious struggle for me.

By then, Nick had convinced himself with information from the internet that this might just be an emergency and was on hold with a 24 hour emergency animal clinic. They, of course, told us to bring him right in.

While all of this was happening, I had been running around in only a robe, hair dripping wet and freezing to death. I was bawling in fear and frustration by this point and was so relieved to hear that there was an actual open clinic and that it was only a 10 minute drive away.

I threw on some clothes and continued to bawl hysterically thinking my stupid chocolate addiction was going to kill the dog. Thank God Nick was there to stay calm and drive the car!

 

By the way – the dog had never shown any signs of being sick the entire time. His tail was wagging and he was completely content after consuming a delicious chocolate bar. I’m sure he was wondering why the humans were running around like lunatics so late at night?!

 

The result: the clinic had to induce vomiting 3 times to get all of the chocolate out of his stomach. They said it was a massive amount for such a little dog. He ended up having to stay over night since he had already absorbed enough for his heart to go into tachycardia. They gave him a couple doses of activated charcoal {which absorbs toxins in the GI tract} as well as IV fluids and continued to monitor him overnight. Coming home without him was utterly painful and truly sad not knowing if he would be ok :(

 

See his tiny shaved leg with a cute purple bandage below as the painful evidence of his trip to the ER:

 

IMG_2014

 

He’s just a little “mangey” looking in these photos – fresh out of the hospital, a charcoal stained beard, desperately in need of a bath, a gangster bandage on his front paw, and in total need of a another chocolate fix.

It’s a thug life =)

chocolate

 

Sadly, I’m pretty sure he hasn't learned his lesson. I’m “anti-chocolate in the house” for the time being – especially after this last bar of chocolate cost us $500!

Happily, he’s alive and well and worth every penny and more♥

I have no idea what we would do without this little guy – he is such a joy to have in our family and has brought us too many smiles and laughs to count.

 

We’re hoping to get the both mommy and pup into “chocoholics anonymous” meetings very soon!

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28 comments:

  1. Oh that is so scary! I'm glad everything is okay and hope your little guy is feeling better soon!

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  2. The same thing happened to me with my dogs, only it was with ibuprofen. We didn't know which one consumed it, so off to the emergency clinic we went. Because we didn't know, we had to admit both of them. I was devastated, freaking out, screaming, crying, you name it for 3 days. I completely know what you went through, and can totally relate. I am so happy to know he is doing better :)

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  3. Aw, poor lil guy!!! I am glad he - and you - are okay.

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  4. Oh no! This happened to my dog too, who happens to weigh 7 pounds. Very scary situation...glad to see he's doing better.
    Watch out for the future...once they get a get amount of chocolate, he will be searching high and low for other things to eat (ie, gum, breathmints, etc)

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  5. Oh my gosh, that would FREAK me out too!! Glad that he is ok!

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  6. How scary! I would have freaked out too. Glad he is ok!

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  7. oh my...how scary!!! I'm so glad he is okay!!!

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  8. so good to know the pup is doing well.
    You shouldn't have to give up chocolate because of this, just keep it up high, on a shelf somewhere. :-) I could never give up chocolate, not even for a cute doggy. :-)

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  9. So scary!! Poor lil' guy. Glad he is okay!

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  10. I'm really glad he's ok & I promise I didn't laugh until I knew he was fine!! The thought of him wondering why the humans were running around is hilarious!!! I so wish the pups understood why they can't have stuff like that.

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  11. Oh I'm so glad he's ok! Poor thing looks so cute with his charcoal stained beard and bandage though, lol! I'm sure he's still wondering what the heck he did that was so bad, that he was banished from the house overnight and made you cry!

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  12. Pets are worth every penny. Glad everything with yours worked out!!! Eeks, quite the scare

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  13. It must be going around....Your blog post sounds like mine that I posted a few days ago with all the Vet Woes my vet gave me about my dog....My final vet bill was 399.00 at our reg vet for 2 X rays and Blood work then 125 dollars at the Surgeon Vet we were referred to which that clinic asks for a FIVE HUNDRED DOLLAR DEPOSIT up front so they have "room" to do testing...WTF right? aahhhhhhh Thankfully they only changed us the consultation fee of 125.00. I can't ever leave my purse on the foor my dog has an obsession with Gum and Chapstick!!!

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  14. Stephanie! I am so sorry! My little pumpkin opened a fully closed tin of Lindt chocolates a few months ago and we found that he had eaten 11, ELEVEN, truffles. It was awful.
    I'm glad your sweetie is okay!

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  15. Does the chocolate really help deal with the public?? Probably not at my store!! ;-)

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  16. you are invited to follow my blog www.hismshi.blogspot.com

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  17. Right after Shawn started at PMC and we were still nomads without a home in Pikeville, we had come back to Lexington for the weekend. We took Maddie to get her yearly shots, and on Sunday night right before Shawn was to head back for work he noticed that her eyes were a little bit puffy. Within 30 minutes, her eyes were completely swelled shut & we were flying down New Circle Road with me sitting backwards in the front seat watching her in case she might need mouth-to-mouth. Everything worked out fine...the vet said it was an allergic reaction to one of her vaccines. We don't vaccinate her against Lyme Disease anymore. Shawn ended up calling in the next day because he couldn't stand leaving us (read: the dog) that night...for which Roy made fun of him mercilessly. Long story short...we spent a pretty penny that night too. And she's totally worth it. Glad your boy is okay!

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  18. Oh how they can give you a heart attack!! I know!! And they are always totally worth every penny! Glad Hendrix is ok! What a rebel! And WHAT a way to stick to a diet now! haha It would scar me from chocolate ever!! Maybe not every but it would make me think alot about buying it haha

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  19. Ohhh my gosh!! What a crazy experience. I seriously would have nearly died. I have two wiener dogs who seem to get into every thing, and (like you) have always been cautious about the chocolate! I would have reacted just like you - my pups are just so special to me, I couldn't let them go from chocolate.

    I love how you wrote this... so tragic and scary, but I was (kind of) giggling when you said you were in your robe with wet hair. Why do things like this always happen when we are in our robe?!

    Just found your blog, and am so happy to have found it. :)

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  20. Leaving the pup behind at the vet is soo hard! We had to do it with our older dog because of a seizure. I cried all night! Love the thug life pic!! :)

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  21. that little cast is too cute!! so glad everything ended up okay!

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  22. OH my word...SO scary! I don't know what I would do if my little Buckley did something like that...maybe want to kill him/keep hugging him all day so he doesn't do it again!! So glad everything's OK!!!

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  23. That was a good story. I like blogs with a bit more to tell like this. If you're really tired of the voices, step into my world and check out my latest and best post. It's got a long story attached to it for a good read. It's a long one, but a good one. I hope you check it out and find some insight in it. I appreciate it. Sean
    http://theuncertifiedscholar.blogspot.com/2010/12/frequencia-final-and-complete-story.html

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  24. SO glad your sweet puppy is okay! He's adorable, btw!

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  25. Oh, goodness! How scary for him and his parents. I'm glad to hear he's feeling better and back to his old self :)

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I just shared my thoughts, I'd love to hear you share yours! {Besides, I'm tired of listening to the voices in my head.} I kid, I kid... ;)