by Helen Stephens
This is lovely Lexi. She is a 1 year old Japanese Spitz cross. She came in to see us last week after scoffing a strip of Ibuprofen tablets.
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Unfortunately her owners did not
know exactly how many she had eaten. She
brought them back up within an hour so her owners breathed a sigh of relief and
thought she would be fine. The next day
Lexi looked a bit sorry for herself. She
was sick a few times and not keen on her food.
Her owners thought she would get better, but Lexi had other ideas and
did not pick up at all. She started to
drink a lot of water too. Her owner
brought her to see Helen concerned that she was not doing very well. Helen examined Lexi and although she was
still bright and had a waggy tail Helen was worried as there was an odd smell
to Lexi’s breath. Lexi was admitted for
blood tests and we found that her kidneys and liver were failing. She was put onto a drip and given lots of
supportive medication. Only time would
tell if Lexi’s organs could recover. It
could already be too late for her. The next day Lexi was no longer vomiting and
eating her food. Grant took some more
blood to see if things were any better.
Fortunately her blood results were much improved which was a great
sign. The real test would be another
blood test after Lexi had come off the drip.
We saw Lexi today and are pleased to report that her kidneys are normal
and her liver is also recovering. She is
much brighter, eating well and most of her bounce has returned.
As humans we take Ibuprofen at
the drop of a hat for any little ache and pain.
It is hard to appreciate how toxic this medication can be to dogs as we
use them so freely on ourselves. If your
pet steals any type of medication always call us straight away for advice. It is always better to see us immediately and
treat the pet before any signs develop. Lexi
was lucky as her owners did bring her in, but if she had been left any longer
the story would have been very different.