Perhaps you’ve heard there’s been a bit of snow in the northeast today.
I’m west of Boston, about midway between the 20.7 and the 20.5 on the map there…that estimate might be conservative. I think we’re closer to 24 inches of snow on the ground already. And the snow hasn’t stopped yet.
While I was outside shoveling this morning, my wife was about to eat a chewable iron supplement – sugar free, chocolate-raspberry flavored. The thing is square, and wrapped in silver foil. She got up briefly to look out the window, to see how I was doing. Big mistake. When she turned back, Cami jumped up on the couch and gobbled the the little square, silvery looking treat. So now, along with the monster snow and the ongoing problems with our furnace (a whole other story you don’t want to know about – in the midst of this storm I had to shovel even more to allow space for the oil company repair truck), we now have our omnivore dog gobbling up nutritional supplements.
I e-mailed Dr. Becker (who’s in New York City today, taping a segment for the Dr. Oz Show), Dr. Tony (who’s not taping anything that I know of, but I’m sure still has them rolling in the aisles at Purdue), and Gina, just because we’re constantly trading stories about the various shenanigans our beasts and fowl are getting themselves into.
The general message was “call Animal Poison Control.” So I did. Our local hotline is staffed 24/7 by the great professionals at the MSPCA-Angell. We’re blessed to have such reliable veterinary talent in the area.
They asked what the dosage was, and if there was xylitol contained in the supplement. As you might remember from Dr. Becker’s GMA segment I got to attend in August, he reminded viewers that xylitol can be lethal to dogs.
No xylitol. Plenty of iron, though, and that concerned me. Come to find out that in that dosage, and at Cami’s weight (about 17-18 pounds), the most we could expect was a possible upset tummy. Maybe some vomiting. Call back if the problems persist.
One thing they didn’t know about Cami — she has a cast iron stomach. We’ve watched her all day. Not a single moment of visible discomfort. She’s still hungry, in fact, and I’m sure would like to know if there any more of those little silver treats available. Harry, meanwhile, barfed up something from last night that didn’t agree with him. So Cami eats the bad thing, Harry gets sick.
Welcome to my world. As I write this, our heat is on again, it’s still snowing, and it’s time to feed the kids dinner. Hold the foil-wrapped supplements.
Photo credits: Snowfall map, noaa.gov. Cami looking for more treats, my Droid.
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