Thursday, September 16, 2010

A dachshund disaster: please keep Jewel in your thoughts

Pictures taken right after eating the pills - she knows she
did something wrong

I am not where I am supposed to be right now. I was supposed to be in Baltimore visiting my best friend from college, but at around 2 PM while I was packing, Jewel - my black dachshund - got into my weekend supply of vitamins in my purse and ate 16 omega 3-6-9 (fish, flax and borage oil) capsules and 3 L-carinitine/magnesium capsules. I immediately called the vet to see what I needed to do and they said she would probably be OK, but that if she started vomiting or experiencing diarrhea to bring her in. She seemed fine at first. But at around 3 her eyes got glossy and bloodshot and smelled like fish. I called the vet again and they said it was probably a normal reaction and that it would take a few days to clear up and for the fish odor to go away. I continued getting ready to go on my trip and took the dogs over to my parents for the weekend. On the way there, Jewel became more sedate and when we got there she wouldn't move and didn't react to my stepfather's greeting. She wouldn't get out of the car and when I opened the door to lift her out she had had an accident in the seat. I got her out but she wouldn't move - she was shaking and tried to vomit. My stepfather insisted that she would be OK and said that we should just leave her so that I could get to the airport on time. I felt so horrible and guilty leaving my sick baby. I got to the airport, checked in, went through security and about 30 minutes before the plane was supposed to take off I spoke to my mother about what had happened and we agreed that I needed to cancel the trip and get Jewel to the emergency animal hospital immediately. I canceled the trip (Southwest is nice enough to give full credit towards another flight for one year), got my luggage and my mom picked me up so that we could meet my stepfather and Jewel at the animal hospital. Animal poison control said that I shouldn't be too concerned, that she would probably just need fluids and anti-nausea medication. However, after getting her checked in and evaluating her, Jewel is experiencing neurological problems and is apparently blind for the time being. Dear readers, please pray for my little puppy. She gets herself into more trouble than a dog of her size should, but is a real sweetheart and brings joy to everyone she meets. I'm waiting on her blood results right now to get a better idea of what is going on. My poor little baby.

2 comments:

  1. Praying for you and for Jewel. Sorry about missing your trip!

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  2. Thank you! Jewel is spending the night at the animal hospital tonight. Blood work thankfully came back normal, but eyesight has not improved enough yet. Will update tomorrow.

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