Vodka saves Alsatian dog
Teddy the Alsatian has had an unusual, but lucky, escape after drinking a bottle of anti-freeze.
His owner, veterinary nurse Kate Sheppard from Birmingham, spotted him lapping the poisonous liquid in the back of her dad’s car. She told the Daily Record:
“There are specific antidotes for all sorts of household fluids cats and dogs might accidentally drink.
“We were told to use ethanol but we couldn’t find it anywhere. It was a frantic race against time.”
A quick-thinking vet suggested vodka as an alternative. Mixed with saline solution and vitamins, the vodka was adminstered using a drip, with Kate by Teddy’s side over night.
“The morning after he was a little bit dopey the poor thing had quite a hangover. He was down in the dumps with big bags under his eyes for a few days,” Kate added.
Kate and Teddy then faced a tense wait to see exactly what damage the anti-freeze had done. If the vodka hadn’t neutralised the anti-freeze in time, it could have destroyed Teddy’s kidneys.
Thankfully, an x-ray showed that the vodka had worked and that there was no permanent damage.
January 19th, 2007 at 11:26 am
Wow! that’s a great story. Glad the dog was alright afterwards.
I’d guess that perhaps the dog has a taste for alcohol to start with, else he wouldn’t have drunk the anti-freeze? (methanol…?). I tried getting mine to drink guiness, but he was only interested in the froth.