Canine Health Emergencies and The Web

RonE

I just responded on a thread where a young man was concerned because his two small dogs had eaten a bag of chocolate.

Carla urged him to call his parents and get the dog to an ER vet, and the young man seemed miffed because the vet decided the dogs didn't have chocolate poisoning and they could treat the vomiting symptomatically. The OP suggested that Carla's advice was reckless and faulty.

What is reckless is looking to an Internet forum, even an excellent one like this one, and expecting an emergency diagnosis. The advice to seek out an emergency vet for a suspected emergency is NEVER reckless. If someone you cared about was experiencing severe chest pain, would you wait and see in case it turned out to be gas?

Somebody a while back said something to the effect that the last thing they wanted to do was to go to a vet and discover there wasn't really anything seriously wrong. Say what? The last thing you want is to sit home, wait and see and have the dog die or suffer irreparable damage while you're trying to muster up the nerve to take some responsibility.

Parents who leave a minor in charge of animals, or in charge of themselves, need to have a plan in place in case of emergency. If the emergency turns out to be less serious than suspected, that is a cause for celebration.

I suspect (and this is coming from someone who has been a child and a parent) that an evening out was interrupted by a call about some sick dogs and everyone involved is annoyed.

Lorina

Having taken sick pets to the emergency vet on several occassions, I'd much rather a diagnosis of "over-protective, paranoid owner" than ones of "severe URI with a temperature of 107° F, suggests hospitalization and intensive care," or even worse, "respiratory and heart failure, chest cavity and lungs full of fluid, strongly suggests euthanasia."

Ginny01OT

To add, people that leave chocolate laying around where dogs can get into are not responsible to begin with. I know all of us have had our dogs get into things they should not have; however, I do make a conscious effort to be sure chocolate and other items deemed dangerous are tucked away is in a cabinet---this is Easter time and I think all of us need to be aware of those wonderful Easter baskets and all the wonderful chocolate we give and get and to BE CAREFUL!!!

cshellenberger

My kids have accidently left chocolate where my pug could get it, I gave peroxide to induce vomiting and got him to the vet to be checked out. Luckily he's never ingested enough to hurt him and I administered first aid, reccomended by my vet, quickly enough to keep it out of his system. This hasn't happened again, as the kids got teir buts chewed and grounded for a month for the incedent, plus the fact they were scared they were going to lose a much loved family member.

Wimble Woof

What really get to me is some posts that are clearly an emergency but far too many people will look here for answers!
Rule of thumb...
"If you animal is in distress.... Seek a vet! Not the NET!"
I dont know what miracle cures some one expects to find here?

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Ginny01OT

We had house guests one weekend. These house guests do not have any pets and I didn't think anything until Riley (at that time 6 months old) actually went into one of their purses and came down the steps with a bag of Hershey kisses in his mouth. I almost freaked, I went thru the whole bag to count how many were in there and thank goodness if he had gotten one or two I was darn lucky.

From now on I ask my guests to place chocolate, vitamins and pills and gum (the sugar free something in sugar free gum and other sugar free things-like for diabetics-is more lethal to dogs than chocolate), chocolate chip cookies and anything else like that on top of the refrigerator or in the refrigerator or locked in a medicine cabinet.

CrzyBritNAmerica

That's just awful! It really bothers me too, to read ridiculous posts on here like that. Anyone with common sense (or at least a young persons parent's) should know that you go o the vet immediately. Like Lorina said I will always rather take the diagnosis of "paranoid pet parent" than ANYTHING potentially more serious!

We had a similar experience to Ginny, where someone left a Dove chocolate bar in their purse and OF COURSE Bridgette found it. Luckily we were instructed how to induce vomiting with peroxide and then had Bridge checked out by the vet. They told us she definitely hadn't eaten enough to do any real damagge, but I certainly wasn't going to take chances!

Snowshoe

RonE, you are absolutely 100% on the money.

Nagem

Maybe it is just because I have always believed that animals are members of the family and not just pets, but I can't imagine suspecting something is seriously wrong with my dog or cat and thinking "man, I hope this won't require a vet visit." My first thought is always to contact my vet. Sure, an emergency appointment is not always required, but at least I am able to rest easy and gain an understanding of what exactly is going on.
When I brought my animals home I made a commitment to them to take care of them. To me, that entails making sure that they are healthy and receive proper medical care when they require it.

RonE

Some of you know I work for a large health insurance company. I spend my days on the phone trying to solve problems.

Sometimes I'll get a call from an insured that sounds like this, "I think my husband is having a heart attack. How much is my ER copay?"

It's very difficult to be civil in the face of that kind of question, and it was equally difficult to be civil to the individual who, I believe, pretended to have a canine medical emergency so he could get a rise out of this forum.

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