Miko ate an Advil gel cap

Katherine said:
How's Miko doing now ?
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He's still quiet and every once a while he gets a bit whiny (I think his tummy aches). The meds are giving him diarrhea, which is nothing new for him. Thankfully, the diarrhea is almost white-ish / yellow-y because of the chicken and rice he's eating. Signs of an ulcer would be dark poops that look they contain coffee grounds. So, as long as we're not seeing that, I think we're in good shape. His appetite is still very healthy, so I'm pretty optimistic that we're going to come through all of this ok.

Thanks for checking in. :sadsmile:
 
Sorry....I have to ask this....is ONE gel cap so serious that it required having his stomach pumped? Or did the vet over-react?

Seems to me that the remedy is worse that the original problem!

I know that when I had Bacca's stomach pumped, in hindsight, I might have done differently. However, at the time we didn't know what he ate, so it was better safe than sorry.

In hindsight, if I knew what he had eaten, I might have tried home remedy instead. This is a question for Dr. Shellie, SheltieChe, Seashel, who all are knowledgeable on the subject.

I'm thinking about Bacca's garbage and subsequent chocolate eating episode. In the end, we avoided a vet visit. And he got through it. I'm sure though that had I brought him to the vet and said that in a 24-36 hour period he ate: cigarette ash, cheese, turkey leftover and then chocolate - and heaven knows what else....they might have pumped his stomach too.

It turned out to be unnecessary, but worrisome.

Welcome thoughts....thinking outloud....for my next time....:no:
 
BarbV said:
Sorry....I have to ask this....is ONE gel cap so serious that it required having his stomach pumped? Or did the vet over-react?
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I don't remember anything about having his stomach pumped. I believe they just induced vomiting.

And yes...ONE gel cap is serious to a small dog such as a sheltie.

This is a great thread, because it will open members eyes so that they do not get into a bad position with their pet.
 
BarbV said:
Sorry....I have to ask this....is ONE gel cap so serious that it required having his stomach pumped? Or did the vet over-react?
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Yeah, unfortunately IBUPROFEN is that bad!!

I'm usually not a worry-wart and I believe that a lot of the time it's best just to let them sort themselves out, build up immunities, etc... but in the case of ibuprofen, the risks are just too great to take any chances.

... and they just induced vomitting... they didn't pump is stomach.
 
BarbV said:
Sorry....I have to ask this....is ONE gel cap so serious that it required having his stomach pumped? Or did the vet over-react?

Seems to me that the remedy is worse that the original problem!

I know that when I had Bacca's stomach pumped, in hindsight, I might have done differently. However, at the time we didn't know what he ate, so it was better safe than sorry.

In hindsight, if I knew what he had eaten, I might have tried home remedy instead. This is a question for Dr. Shellie, SheltieChe, Seashel, who all are knowledgeable on the subject.

I'm thinking about Bacca's garbage and subsequent chocolate eating episode. In the end, we avoided a vet visit. And he got through it. I'm sure though that had I brought him to the vet and said that in a 24-36 hour period he ate: cigarette ash, cheese, turkey leftover and then chocolate - and heaven knows what else....they might have pumped his stomach too.

It turned out to be unnecessary, but worrisome.

Welcome thoughts....thinking outloud....for my next time....:no:
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I can only attest for what we do for humans, it is pretty common drug to OD so we see alot of it. There is not real correlation between dose taken and effects it will have for life i.e. will the patient die. Ibuprofen OD might be nothing in dose 100mg/kg, so general 150lbs person can ingest 35 regular pills of 200 mg and be fine. Doses of 400mg/kg are considered toxic but again one has to see levels of drug circulating in the blood at 4 hr period and whether level is increasing or not. So for humans time frame is if OD under one hour- possible gastric lavage/ rinse tummy inside out with tube and water/, up to 4-6 hrs use charcoal, after that treatment is symptomatic.
I am big believer in home remedies and would def induce vomiting Right away if I see pup gulping something that does not belong in his tummy, unless this is something that could potentially cause more harm while returning back like acid. I know one breeder whose dog likes to swallow stones, so her vet gives her some eye drops to induce vomiting stones back.
But on average I would agree with you, when my pup got into eclairs with dark chocolate on them I just monitored. So I would say it all would depend
on situation and your level of comfort.
 
SheltieChe said:
I can only attest for what we do for humans, it is pretty common drug to OD so we see alot of it. There is not real correlation between dose taken and effects it will have for life i.e. will the patient die. Ibuprofen OD might be nothing in dose 100mg/kg, so general 150lbs person can ingest 35 regular pills of 200 mg and be fine. Doses of 400mg/kg are considered toxic but again one has to see levels of drug circulating in the blood at 4 hr period and whether level is increasing or not. So for humans time frame is if OD under one hour- possible gastric lavage/ rinse tummy inside out with tube and water/, up to 4-6 hrs use charcoal, after that treatment is symptomatic.
I am big believer in home remedies and would def induce vomiting Right away if I see pup gulping something that does not belong in his tummy, unless this is something that could potentially cause more harm while returning back like acid. I know one breeder whose dog likes to swallow stones, so her vet gives her some eye drops to induce vomiting stones back.
But on average I would agree with you, when my pup got into eclairs with dark chocolate on them I just monitored. So I would say it all would depend
on situation and your level of comfort.
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Toxic dose for dogs for ulcers is 100mg/kg and kidney damage 300 mg/kg. So in a puppy depending on its weight could be easily at the ulcer dose.

Standard procedure would be induce vomiting, admin charcoal, place on sucralfate, a stomach acid blocker and IV fluids for 48 hours if Kidney toxic levels are approached. Possible gastric lavage based on time after ingestion and dose as approxiate.
 
Poor little Miko. I'm glad, though, that he's recovering. Give him lots of kisses for me!
 
Justicemom said:
Toxic dose for dogs for ulcers is 100mg/kg and kidney damage 300 mg/kg. So in a puppy depending on its weight could be easily at the ulcer dose.

Standard procedure would be induce vomiting, admin charcoal, place on sucralfate, a stomach acid blocker and IV fluids for 48 hours if Kidney toxic levels are approached. Possible gastric lavage based on time after ingestion and dose as approxiate.
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Miko weighs approx 5.5 kgs and had approx 2/3 of a 400mg gel cap.... so I'd say he had about 275mgs in total. That's a dose of 50 mg/kg. So not that bad... BUT... considering how skinny and sickly he was to begin with, and considering the fact that his issues were all digestive-related... any further damage to his gut is a huge concern.

His diarrhea continues... but now we don't know if it's just his everyday run of the mill diarrhea of if it's being caused by his meds. He finishes the meds tomorrow, so I guess we'll soon find out. There's a bit of blood in his stools, but not any that appears to have been digested. Again, just the everyday run of the mill irriated colon spots of blood.

Other than all of this, he's a very happy and sweet little guy. He's not at 100% energy but he's still really playful and eager to learn new things. He's also hungry as a bear, which I take as a good sign.

We are still watching him very closely and will have to sort out his tummy issues once this drama is behind us... but for now, we're breathing a small sigh of relief and very much feeling like we dodged what could have been a very ugly bullet.

Thanks again for all of the prayers and thoughts... I have no doubt that they helped!!
 
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