We had an amazing afternoon on the lake where we rented a kayak with friends and soaked up the sun.
Then, we came home.
I walked in the front door and saw a Hershey's chocolate bar wrapper on the floor that was NOT there when we left. Then I walked in further and found a pile of shredded wrappers in the living room. I flipped. Ran through the house looking for our dog (a 28lb beagle). He was asleep on our bed and I scooped up him and put him in the backseat and headed to our vet (who is open until 4 on Sundays). The vet immediately told us to go to the Animal ER (NW Austin Emergency Animal Hospital) because all their rooms were full and he needed to be seen quickly. We go to the ER and they took him back within 2 minutes of us walking in the door. The did an injection that induced vommitting. Thankfully, I knew approx how many ounces he ate - so they could estimate where we fall on the "chocolate can be fatal" scale. After the puking, he had to stay about an hour for them to observe - but we're already home and Cooper is tired, but seems to be fine.
Considering it was an Emergency Animal Hospital I think it was reasonably priced (I was expecting a fat bill). Also, the vet techs were super nice and didn't make me feel like (an even more) terrible dog owner. Hopefully you won't be in my position any time soon... but if you are keep their info on your fridge! They were great.
Also, my beagle is houdini. We shut him in the back bedroom before we left. He apparently opened the door from the bedroom to the bathroom, then escaped through the open bathroom door into the hallway. THEN he jumped up onto the kitchen counter and pulled the entire 6 pack of chocolate bars down. I'm not sure how he managed this - as he's so small and can't reach the counters (so I thought!)
Re: NW Austin Emergency Animal Hospital Rave!
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ah, yes. i had to make the run to the emergency hospital one evening around midnight after my 8 pound pomeranian ate an entire chocolate orange. i called, and they told me to give him hydrogen peroxide, but it didn't make him vomit. so off we went. they also gave him an injection to induce vomiting; the vet tech came out to tell us how he was doing. "i've never seen so much chocolate come out of a dog!" yep. but our little dog ended up being just fine.
my real rave, though, comes from when around november when we took our dog in for excessive panting and having white gums. it was around 2 in the morning, and they took one look and rushed her to the back. they tried, but she was gone in about 30 minutes. i was really impressed with how they handled our grief -- it was unexpected and therefore, very hard to take -- and we received a handwritten note about a week later.
yes, it costs around $90 to just breathe the air inside the emergency vet, but i've been very impressed so far with the few times i've had to go.
Aren't beagles the darndest dogs? Our beagle ate 3 dozen mini cupcakes that I had made for a baby shower - also sitting on the counter. She's also been known to eat full packages and loaves of bread while we're gone. We have to lock everything up =(.
Glad your pup is okay! We've made a few trips to that animal hospital too!