Carl & decon???

[Rottie]

Sorry I haven't been on in a while. I've just been so busy with the holidays, and well, this...

Sunday morning I woke up because I could hear Carl throwing up. He does this every once in a while. I thought, it's just one of those doggie things.

So I let Carl out and he went and did his business and then came back in to eat! He walks in the house and I notice he's not really walking on his back left leg. Trying to think positivly I'm like, OK, maybe his leg fell asleep (which happens occasionally).

So I watched him as he snurfled through the kitchen and into the dining room (looking for crumbs) and he just smashed into a chair like he didn't even know it was there. So I take him into my room, still limping, and watch again as he smashes into the wall trying to get through the doorway of my room.

Now I was really worried, and I woke up my parents. My Dad got on the phone trying to find a vet open on Sunday mornings. Carl could barely stand now without me helping him. He would just loose his balance. He also started hyper-salivating (drooling), which he normally does not do.

We finally found a vet who was open. Carl got very perky when we asked him if he wanted to "Go for a ride!". And he walked to the car (still limping, but not really in any "visible" pain).

By the time we got to the vet, Carl was much better, he could stand on his own. The vet played around with Carl's leg a lot, bending it this way and that way and he showed absolutely no sign of pain. We also couldn't figure out the drooling. Very weird.

After about an hour at the vets, Carl was about 80% better, so we decided to take him home without doing any blood tests. But if he got any worse we'd bring him back immediatly.

Carl stopped the drooling within a few hours and was completely back to normal by 3 or 4:00.

We thought and thought about what could have happened. We came up with 2 solutions.

1. The day before he had gotten a new squeaky toy and he played with it for about 2 hours. He didn't tear it open or anything, but could it have been sprayed with something???

2. Also, the night before this happened I was downstairs for about a 1/2 hour bringing Christmas stuff to decorate our tree. Carl invited himself down with me. I couldn't really think of anything he could get into down there, until a friend asked if he could've gotten into decon.

There is some decon in the basement on a very high shelf. If a mouse had kicked some down on the ground, and Carl had eaten just one pellet, it probably is powerful to do that much.

Carl is 100% better now. But, boy did he have me worried. And we have 2 new rules now. No, dogs in the basement, and no mouse poison - anywhere.

[AdoreMyDogs]

Oh my gosh is that horrifying!!! I am SO glad Carl is OK, that poison is so strong, I had no idea. Thank goodness Carl is big...I bet a smaller dog may have been hospitalized, or even worse from eating that same amount.

Give Carl a big hug for me and tell him that I am glad he's OK.

[purrley]

Whew - what a scary thing to happen to our Carl. Thank goodness he's OK now - those symptoms did sound like a poisoning, good thing he was able to barf at least some of that stuff out.

[slleipnir]

Sara, i'm glad carl is fine I would have freaked out if that happened to jo too!

BTW, I LOVE rotties and was wondering how they behave? energetic? friendly? etc...

[sammi]

It might be a good not to use decon. As I understand if your dog/cat would find some dead mice that had eaten the decon your pet could also get it in his system that way too! I beleive it causes them to bleed to death (same kinda medicine that's in Blood thinner's for human's).

[aly]

Oh my gosh, Sara. What a scare! I'm in tears from fright even though I know poor Carl is all better now! Thank goodness you and your family acted fast. How scary that such a small amount of that stuff could affect him like that!

I'm so glad he's better. Give the sweet boy a kiss from me.

[Sudilar]

Glad to hear that Carl is ok now. Whew!

[TheAntiPam]

Wow, what a terrible scare at this hectic time! Carl, you be careful of your sweet self! We need you to be our special Rottie Representative - showing your loving and easy nature! I hope you are all done feeling yucky and stay out of that bad stuff!

When I see your picture, Carl, I always think you should have a voice like Eeyore - slow and easy and low - and doesn't say much but everyone listens when you do!

Merry Christmas to Carl and your traumatized family! Stay well, all!

[Logan]

Carl......bless your heart. I am so relieved for you and Sara that you are ok! Please be careful and have a wonderful holiday!!

[KYS]

Got nervous when I first starting
reading your post.
I am so glad that Carl is fine.

[RachelJ]

Glad to hear that our Carl is okay. I don't know what anyone else thinks, but to me it also could have been some kind of a seizure. Once with my Bailey, she woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't quite walk right, sort of in a daze, and stumbled around. We were going to take her to the emergency vet, but by the time we got dressed, she appeared to be back to normal. Keep a close eye on Carl to see if he has anymore episodes of a similar nature. If he does have more, keep note of how long they last and record the time and day they occur so you can tell the vet. My Bailey only had that one episode.

[pepper636]

I agree, it sounds like a possibility it could have been a seizure. My cat, Shadow, now at the bridge, had an episode like that, like she was somewhere else. By the time I got her to the vet, she was OK. I'd just keep an eye on him, just in case it was a seizure.

[tatsxxx11]

Dear Sara, what a fright! I was so relieved to hear that Carl is now 100% Could have been a seizure. Although, that type of non gran mal seizure in humans tends to be of a briefer length than Carl's episode. Perhaps not so in dogs. I was reading an article recently on D-Con type poisoning and it does cite extreme lethargy as one of the symptoms, although not remedying itself as quickly as with Carl. And, it also mentioned blood in the poop as a major symptom. I am just glad that Carl is up and well! Hopefully, this was a one time only event!! Hugs to beautiful Carl from all of us. Love, Sandra, Cody and Star

[ktreva52]

Sara, I'm glad Carl is feeling better, but I suggest strongly that you get him back to the vet and start Vitamin K shots NOW! Decon poisoning is how I lost k'Treva last year and she acted perfectly normal for almost two weeks before it nailed her! By the time I realized how bad it was, it was worse and she died. The Vitamin K is to help clotting and will counter the effects of the Decon. But you need to start it now. If it was a seizure, the Vitamin K shouldn't have any adverse effects, but if it was the Decon, it is really important that you do something now. The anti-coagulent (SP?) is coumadin and is used for thrombosis patients and people with blood clots, etc. and it will cause a dog to bleed to death internally if not dealt with immediately! Please, at least talk with your vet about the possibility and see if he/she won't go ahead and do the Vit. K and see how it goes for a couple of weeks. Better safe than as sorry as I am for not doing something for Trev sooner!

[tatsxxx11]

Ktreva is absolutely right! Coumadin is a blood thinner, (anticoagulant) and is only used with extreme judiciousness in humans. Vit. K is the "antidote." Your vet can do a "bleeding panel" (blood test that shows how rapidly blood clost) that will assure you that Carl has or has not been subjected to the ingestion of coumadin. Vit. K is quite safe and could only help should this be the cause of Carl's episode.

[ December 20, 2001: Message edited by: tatsxxx11 ]