I thought I would expand a bit on the escapade we had with Maggie yesterday, I am still pinching myself as to how lucky we were. So sorry this post isn’t about pet portraits, but if I can make one person aware of the dangers of certain foods to dogs I will be happy.
As you may have read Maggie ate two of my friends raisins yesterday. I didn’t actually see her eat them, the baby spilt some food and saw Maggie was hoovering it up, but mixed in were some raisins. I phoned the vet and I was to bring her down immediately. They can cause kidney failure very, very quickly.
The induced vomiting and up came two raisins. So lucky I saw and decided to act. The time limit before serious problems can occur is 2 hours, and the treatment gets a lot more complicated, longer and the survival rate can be touch and go. She still isn’t out of the woods yet. We have to have a blood test to check her kidney function next week, and she had to have 3 doses of activated charcoal at home. All I can say is I can’t stop feeling so grateful I saw it and acted when I did.
Lots of people know that chocolate can be very bad for dogs, especially dark. Yes we all know someone who’s dog ate a load of chocolate and wasn’t ill. Our old dog was one, but like grapes and raisins, some dogs seem to be a lot more sensitive than others, there is no rhyme or reason for it and should be treated as a matter of urgency if either is ingested.
Onions and garlic is another. It can cause anemia, Xylitol, an artificial sweetener can also be deadly. It is in a lot of sweets and drinks amongst other things. The list goes on. Here is a link the rest
https://www.battersea.org.uk/pet-advice/dog-care-advice/toxic-food-dogs
Please do not hesitate to ring you vet straight away, please don’t adopt a wait and see attitude, if I had done that Maggie could have been dead by now. As it happens her pride is a little hurt, she is annoyed with me, and a bit tired, but hopefully OK. Needless to say she has a quiet day, and so have I am emotionally exhausted after all this! After all they are like family and it is so worrying when anything happens to them.
I hope this has helped at least one person. I know a few people I have spoken to since it happened realise now how dangerous it could be and admitted they would have adopted the watch and wait approach before hearing my story. Here’s to a quiet week next week!