Contaminated Rawhide Bone Lands a Family Pet in the Hospital

We adopted a pound dog a few years ago; an agreeable midsize hound with a winning personality and a smile to match. "Freckles" was full of energy and enjoyed roaming the yard for wayward squirrels and raccoons. He also had a penchant for digging, and our trainer suggested we bury rawhide bones and plastic toys in an unused area of the yard, with the idea that he would limit his digging to a specific location. The trick seemed to work and from then on, his digging seemed to be confined to a small patch of dirt by the barn.

One morning last month, I walked into our mud room to discover that Freckles had vomited profusely during the night. He must have dug up an old treat from the evening before that somehow hadn't quite agreed with him, and had upchucked bits and pieces of rawhide bone all over the room. Freckles staggered over to me, struggling to keep his feet beneath his body. He kept sliding down on his rear haunches and eventually fell to the ground.

Our veterinarian's initial examination seem to indicate botulism or organophophate poisoning. She kept Freckles for the day, running various tests, keeping him on IVs and even once injecting his heart with atropine when his pulse dropped below 40 beats per minute. That evening he was transported to a overnight pet clinic where they had a respirator on standby if needed. By morning, Freckle's condition had worsened and we were faced with making a sobering decision.

My husband detected a glimmer of recognition in the dog's eye and we decided to bring him home, even though he would need round-the-clock nursing care. Our primary veterinarian prescribed canned Science Diet i/d for his pancreatitis and stressed the importance of maintaining his fluid levels. We also kept Freckles covered up with blankets to get him warm, massaged his legs and rotated him to prevent pressure sores. For his incontinence, we opted to lay him down on an old blanket which we had placed on heavy plastic.