Labradoodle lucky to be alive after swallowing human pain medication
Luna’s case a perfect example of teamwork in action
Luna the labradoodle is lucky to be alive after accidentally swallowing some of her owner’s medication.
Jacqui Croll, of Dundee, couldn’t understand why her dog was acting strangely and decided to take her to her local veterinary practice to get checked.
It was only when the vet mentioned the dangers of ingesting human medication that Jacqui realised curious Luna must have swallowed some of her tablets.
Luna’s condition was so serious she needed close monitoring through the night so was transferred to Vets Now in Dundee where staff were on hand to provide one-to-one care.
By the time Luna arrived at our clinic, she was comatose and needed help to breathe. She also had abnormal sounds coming from her lungs and a high fever so aspiration pneumonia was suspected.
Luna was treated overnight to help clear the toxins from her blood and by the morning she was out of her coma. However, she was completely blind, couldn’t stand up and was showing signs of severe agitation – one of the side effects of the drugs she’d swallowed.
The following morning a team of vets and vet nurses from Parkside took over her care – but Luna was still unable to walk. Unfortunately, she stopped responding to her medication and a decision was taken to put her into a medically-induced coma.
Parkside vets Mairi Hill and Catherine MacLeod treated Luna while vet nurse Sarah stayed by her side throughout her ordeal.
When Vets Now staff took over treatment again at 7 pm, vet Claire Nicol started the process to take Luna out of her induced coma. She then provided one-to-one care for the remainder of the night as Luna slowly began to regain consciousness.
By the time Parkside staff arrived at the clinic the following morning Luna was, to their astonishment, back on her feet. Needless to say, the staff from both Parkside and Vets Now were delighted that their care and dedication had paid off.
Thankfully, Luna has now recovered from her ordeal and will celebrate her first birthday at home with her family later this month.
Laura Playforth, professional standards director at Vets Now, said: “It’s wonderful to hear Luna is on the mend. Her case demonstrates the benefits of our close working relationship with Parkside. Their teamwork has been second to none and certainly an important factor in Luna’s recovery.
“Sadly, however, her case wasn’t particularly unusual. Owners should assume all human medications are poisonous to pets unless instructed otherwise by their veterinary surgeon.
“Prevention is the key so our advice would be to keep all medications, human and animal, safely locked away and well out of your pet’s reach.”
Vets Now is open through the night, seven-days-a-week, and day and night on weekends and bank holidays, to treat any pet emergencies that may occur.
All of Vets Now’s nationwide network of out-of-hours clinics and 24/7 hospitals have a vet and vet nurse on site at all times.
