Last Tues, we had Diya's doctor's appointment up at Stanford and the cleaning people coming to our house. So we all left the house early and little more rushed than usual. As always, cleaning up for the housecleaners takes longer than it's sometimes worth. And since we had decided to try to go without professional cleaning for a while (b/c we like to dream big like that), the house had been messier than usual. Anyway, the point is that the dogs for once had to stay outside all the day, and we got home pretty late (after waiting almost an hour to get Diya x-rayed -- I'm not sure how long I went on and on to Gregg for about how ridiculous that was, but I'm guessing the parents of all the sick children there were all SO relieved that they were waiting with their kids instead of me. I think even Diya handled the wait better than I did).
When we got home, the house was clean, but either Mia or Tucker had somehow gotten into some new planters we had finally filled up. We couldn't tell exactly who the guilty party was. Mia was the only one that looked guilty but she's much more sensitive to our moods than Tucker is, so that doesn't say a whole lot. We were annoyed that our hard planting work had been wasted, but it wasn't until a little while later that it occurred to Gregg that the planter boxes had contained both dirt and fertilizer. So if they had eaten anything, they probably would have ingested fertilizer as well. When I took them out for their walk a little later, Mia had black runs. Tucker may have also but since he decided to run off and poop in the bushes, I couldn't tell.
We were concerned about the whole thing (especially with the black runs) but then had a cranky infant to put to bed and dinner to deal with. So by the time we started googling fertilizer and dogs, it was close to 9. I know, it doesn't sound late but believe me, if you're the sleep-deprived parent of a teething infant, the evening hours getting ready for bed are pretty precious. And by the time we realized it can be pretty toxic, it was even later. Which is why I got to spend a good hour of that night on the phone with the ASPCA describing what had happened. Did you know they have a poison control hotline? And apparently it's staffed even at 10 o'clock at night. They charge a small fee for the consultation but in return, they're willing to discuss your case with you for over an hour. It's awesome.
As an added bonus, you get to answer all kinds of questions about your dogs that make you feel like the wonderful pet parent that you are. When do you think your pet ingested this fertilizer? Uh, anywhere from 7am - 7pm. Worst case scenario, how much do you think they could have ingested? Up to a pound. And it's just one dog that ate it all? Well, we're not sure. But just one dog had the runny poop? Well, again, we're not sure. And it was just the once? Yes, oh wait, my husband just went out with a flashlight and found another hard black turd on the lawn. So you definitely think they ingested something? There used to be dirt in a planter box, now it's all over the ground. That's really all we know.
After being placed on hold several times and having several vets consult on our case (turns out this specific fertilizer has a high iron content which could destroy a digestive track), they agreed that the best approach was to wait and see. Go out with them everytime they went out and look at their poop. If they vomit or poop blood, call back or run to the nearest emergency vet. Etc. Etc.
Gregg said that Tucker's poop the next morning was a mix of black and brown -- like he worked through the black stuff and the later part was normal (seriously, we took the "examine all poops" directive to heart). So clearly, it was a Bonnie and Clyde operation. We still don't know who the ring leader was. But fortunately, the dogs made it. And at $65 for the phone call, I'd say that was the cheapest vet bill ever.
When we got home, the house was clean, but either Mia or Tucker had somehow gotten into some new planters we had finally filled up. We couldn't tell exactly who the guilty party was. Mia was the only one that looked guilty but she's much more sensitive to our moods than Tucker is, so that doesn't say a whole lot. We were annoyed that our hard planting work had been wasted, but it wasn't until a little while later that it occurred to Gregg that the planter boxes had contained both dirt and fertilizer. So if they had eaten anything, they probably would have ingested fertilizer as well. When I took them out for their walk a little later, Mia had black runs. Tucker may have also but since he decided to run off and poop in the bushes, I couldn't tell.
We were concerned about the whole thing (especially with the black runs) but then had a cranky infant to put to bed and dinner to deal with. So by the time we started googling fertilizer and dogs, it was close to 9. I know, it doesn't sound late but believe me, if you're the sleep-deprived parent of a teething infant, the evening hours getting ready for bed are pretty precious. And by the time we realized it can be pretty toxic, it was even later. Which is why I got to spend a good hour of that night on the phone with the ASPCA describing what had happened. Did you know they have a poison control hotline? And apparently it's staffed even at 10 o'clock at night. They charge a small fee for the consultation but in return, they're willing to discuss your case with you for over an hour. It's awesome.
As an added bonus, you get to answer all kinds of questions about your dogs that make you feel like the wonderful pet parent that you are. When do you think your pet ingested this fertilizer? Uh, anywhere from 7am - 7pm. Worst case scenario, how much do you think they could have ingested? Up to a pound. And it's just one dog that ate it all? Well, we're not sure. But just one dog had the runny poop? Well, again, we're not sure. And it was just the once? Yes, oh wait, my husband just went out with a flashlight and found another hard black turd on the lawn. So you definitely think they ingested something? There used to be dirt in a planter box, now it's all over the ground. That's really all we know.
After being placed on hold several times and having several vets consult on our case (turns out this specific fertilizer has a high iron content which could destroy a digestive track), they agreed that the best approach was to wait and see. Go out with them everytime they went out and look at their poop. If they vomit or poop blood, call back or run to the nearest emergency vet. Etc. Etc.
Gregg said that Tucker's poop the next morning was a mix of black and brown -- like he worked through the black stuff and the later part was normal (seriously, we took the "examine all poops" directive to heart). So clearly, it was a Bonnie and Clyde operation. We still don't know who the ring leader was. But fortunately, the dogs made it. And at $65 for the phone call, I'd say that was the cheapest vet bill ever.
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