[stangman11]

Hello all,
I am the owner of 3 dogs, two French-tons and one Boston Terrier.

Yesterday, one of the French-tons(Delilah) and the Boston (Penelope) got into something in the back yard. Within 30 minutes both dogs exhibited sever diarrhea and vomiting then they collapsed. I thought Penelope was going to die right there she was not moving, her breathing was shallow, she was in bad shape. My wife and I rushed them to the emergency vet where Penelope needed a shot of atropine, her heart-rate was 25bpm down from the normal of 120. They are now starting to recover but I really want answers as to what caused this. Both dogs liver enzyme levels were very high which is indicative of possible liver failure and they developed pancreatitis.

Background on their environment;

• I live in Georgia,
• The yard they are in is fenced and is a typical backyard you'd see in a neighborhood.
• There is a shed in the backyard that the dogs can get under but not in.
• There is a small child's swing set, mostly plastic, and a trampoline in the backyard.
• grass is half sod and half wild crab type grass the back half is crab grass.
• the yard has been treated as part of a normal routine treatment lby a company like Chem-lawn but the back hasn't been treated in months due to the dogs
• The dogs have gone out in that back yard over 100 times for hours some time with no incident.

There are really no trees asides from 3 baby/adolescent Elm trees.
- My third dog, Winston was unaffected.

Here is what I know. There was a variant of mushroom that we found in the back yard and after analysis from poison control it was deemed poisonous. The vet stated that it would cause similar symptoms but not the liver failure so she thinks that while this may have been a factor, they may have ingested something else.

• The vet stated their symptoms were inconsistent with:
• chocolate
• antifreeze
• grapes

Other than the mushrooms I don't see anything in the backyard that could of possibly caused this. The mushrooms in question were old and looked as if they had been tramped on but not eaten. I have removed the mushrooms and am putting lattice around the shed so they cannot get under it.

If they recover, I don't want to worry every time they are in the backyard and would like to know if anyone experienced a similar occurrence and what the cause was so that I can check for it and remove it.

Thanks
Frank

 

[LeoRose]

Wow. That is so scary. I'm glad they are on the mend.

About the only thing I can recommend is go over the yard and see if maybe someone has tossed something over the fence (not necessarily out of malice, but possible ignorance). Maybe put up a temporary fence, to keep the dogs closer to the house while you are trying to find out what cased it would be a good idea, as well. Also, going out with them, instead of just letting them out, so that you can see if they are unduly attracted to a particular area, would be helpful.

 

[arcouillard]

How scary! While not common (hopefully) I have heard of people intentionally poisoning dogs...someone I know had their dog poisoned with baited meat thrown into their fenced yard. The dog sadly passed away. It is completely sick, and I can't imagine what kind of jerk would do something like that, but it does happen. I agree that you should be diligent about going out with them every time...it might be inconvenient, but worth it to keep an eye on them. If possible, maybe do a quick walk around the yard before letting them out to make sure nothing strange has shown up. Also, crows sometimes dig through dumpsters and carry/drop food items...could have been something rancid or poisonous from someones garbage can. Positive thoughts for your sick pups!

 

[stangman11]

Wow. That is so scary. I'm glad they are on the mend.

About the only thing I can recommend is go over the yard and see if maybe someone has tossed something over the fence (not necessarily out of malice, but possible ignorance). Maybe put up a temporary fence, to keep the dogs closer to the house while you are trying to find out what cased it would be a good idea, as well. Also, going out with them, instead of just letting them out, so that you can see if they are unduly attracted to a particular area, would be helpful.

That is a good idea with a smaller fenced in area. I truly hope no one intentionally tried to hurt them or ignorantly threw something over my fence. I will definitely be policing the yard before they go out and following them for a bit. Thanks

 

[stangman11]

How scary! While not common (hopefully) I have heard of people intentionally poisoning dogs...someone I know had their dog poisoned with baited meat thrown into their fenced yard. The dog sadly passed away. It is completely sick, and I can't imagine what kind of jerk would do something like that, but it does happen. I agree that you should be diligent about going out with them every time...it might be inconvenient, but worth it to keep an eye on them. If possible, maybe do a quick walk around the yard before letting them out to make sure nothing strange has shown up. Also, crows sometimes dig through dumpsters and carry/drop food items...could have been something rancid or poisonous from someones garbage can. Positive thoughts for your sick pups!

If I found out that someone poisoned them and can prove it I will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. They will be lucky if that is all I do to them.

 

[MaryLouMaloney]

How are the dogs doing now?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[3GSD4IPO]

I hope your dogs are OK. My thought was actually that of a Coral Snake or snakes. You might not see the bite and the bite could even have been the the tongue. I would ask the vet it that is a possibility.

 

[TropicalWinds]

If I found out that someone poisoned them and can prove it I will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. They will be lucky if that is all I do to them.

You can only prove this with cameras and necropsy. Hope your pets are doing well.