Today I took Tarkie and Lochan out for their usual riverside walk. With the good weather there has been a a lot of rubbish left about from illegal camping in the area, in fact we cleared loads up earlier in the week. It is always teenagers who camp and drink themselves into insensibility. Anyway, walk went as usual and came home, after about an hour I noticed a pool of water on the kitchen floor but assumed someone had spilled a drink. I was about to go out with one of my sons and went to look for the dogs to put them somewhere cool in the house while we went out, but couldn't find Lochan which is very unusual as she is normally wherever I am. I went into the garden to find her distressed and lying in a pool of urine. She stood up when she saw me, but urine was pouring out of her in an uncontrollable flood soaking her fur from the waist back. She staggered over to me looking distressed and collapsed in a heap at my feet. I scooped her up and took her straight in to work and by the time I got there (about 15 minutes drive), she was varying between apparent panic, neurological depression, twitching, over-responsive to certain stimuli, elevated temperature, fast heart rate and big pupils. She was staggering and frightened, and still urine pouring from her. We took blood and urine samples which were normal, but she looked like she was about to have a seizure. This is fairly typical of marijuana poisoning in dogs, and I had seen her eat something in the rubbish left by the illegal campers this morning. I stayed with her at work with her under my constant observation for around 5 hours when the symptoms seemed to be abating. She is now asleep at my feet at home, although I have a large arsenal of drugs home with me in case she should fit. I cannot tell you all how angry I am that this should happen to my poor dog, and goodness knows what would have happened if it had been someones child. I have spoken to the local councillor who was concerned but pointed out with all the cuts in funding it is very difficult to police rural areas adequately. I am normally a sociable and socially aware person but right now I despise those teenagers......sorry, rant over, just had to vent.....
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog Oh my Lord , how shocking , I am so so sorry to read this and can understand your absolute anger , I am thinking of you and of your dear Lochan , thank goodness you are a Vet and knew what to do , poor you and Lochan too , so sad and so un necessary too x
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog What a scare! I would be outraged too. Hope Lochan is going to be ok.
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog Oh the the poor dog, thank goodness your a vet. Blimin teenagers, bet you want to throttle them, I would. Hope Lochan makes a full recovery, give him a pat from me. x
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog That's horrendous and I was be absolutely furious! I hope Lochan makes a full and rapid recovery. Thinking of you all x
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog Oh that's awful,what a fright,you really kept your head which I am sure was the professional you but you must have been panic stricken for your dog.please let us know how she's does,best wishes to you all x
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog Thanks for your good wishes folks. I'm calming down a little now (but only a little), and Lochan has just managed to walk fairly normally to the garden and have a wee and a drink. I'll see if she manages her tea later - some dogs with marijuana intoxication seem to get "the munchies" afterwards just like people. Although Lochan is so greedy I'm not sure if I could tell......
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog Oh how appalling!! So sorry and thank goodness you knew what to do...
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog Oh, poor Lochan. I hope she's OK. Unfortunately it's something we live with, not necessarily marijuana, but piles of rubbish. It's one of the hardest lessons trying to teach greedy labs not to eat anything they find, which can range from chicken carcasses to emptied portaloos (yes, Mr Coachdriver, I do mean you - this glorious moorland is not waste ground to use to empty your tanks), left over 'disposable' barbecues are a particular hazzard.
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog I really do feel so despondent about this. How's she doing now?
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog That is just awful, I'm so sorry to hear this. Is she any better? Gosh, I'll look out for Charlie tonight, it's true I've seen lots of campsites/disposable bbqs up at the common...
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog Thanks again folks for your concern. She has managed to eat her tea and is now fast asleep being cuddled by one of my sons. The neurological signs have mostly gone, she is no longer incontinent just very quiet and sleepy. My younger son (15) witnessed the whole episode including the scary bit when she lost all coordination and looked like she was about to have a seizure. So on the upside my son has had a massive lesson on social responsibility although I don't think he really needed it. David, I agree with you it really makes you despair that people will do this sort of thing.....
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog I'm off to bed now.....hope you have a quiet peaceful night after a horrible day and Lochan continues her excellent recovery x
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog how dreadful. what a horrible thing to have to go through.
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog I read this earlier at work and was quite shocked Lochan. Actually to be honest, I felt quite upset. Can't imagine what was going through your mind. Professional detachment all goes out the window when its one of your own. I was sooo glad to see she was better this evening. You must be so relieved Jac
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog As soon as I read your line about teenagers camping I knew you were going to say that it was marijuana poisoning. My previous boy, Nicolae, once ate some marijuana of some description that he found on a walk (in suburbia) and he had the same symptoms, but not as extreme. He was very wobbly, 'out of it' and also incontinent (wee only). He wasn't that distressed though, unlike Tarkie. He was fine by the next day. Naturally I rushed him to the vet as soon as I noticed symptoms. The vet said he sees it mostly when dogs get into the teenager's stash at home. He has seen some dogs rendered catatonic by it (i.e. completely still but will maintain whatever position you put their limbs in). He also said that they have to eat an awful lot of it for it to do lasting damage. Not sure how much 'an awful lot' is. Glad that Tarkie is improving and curses to those thoughtless teenagers and their rubbish.
Re: Poisoning - so furious for my poor dog Oops, sorry - what I saw Angela's post I realised that I had referred to the wrong doggie - sorry about that!! Hope she is feeling a lot better today.
