Cautionary Tail (the dog lives)

I let the dogs out for a few minutes after returning home to discover the dork pictured above had escaped her crate. No major damage. I'll count it as a win (last time she ate hubby's CPAP mask).

When Sage came back inside, I found that I could literally SEE her pulse and her heart was hammering against my hand when I felt her chest. I was guessing 150-170 bpm easy. Maybe some malaise? She's the calmer of the two dogs though. No vomiting. No diarrhea. Just a bounding pulse. You can see her ears trembling with each beat and her carotid pulsing. I'm shook.

Emergency vet time. I rattle through my more-than-mildly panicked assessment to the emergency vet office that was super nice and affordable and knowledgeable. I head over at their encouragement and because...duh, she's my baby. I can feel her heartbeat through the leash as I hold it.

Vet and I work through the timeline and evidence. She might have gotten into the bathroom trash. No, there shouldn't have been any meds in there. She was still locked inside the bedroom so she didn't have access to food.

EKG puts her heart rate at 170-240 bpm (doggo normal is about 80 at rest).

"Could she have gotten to an inhaler?"

Dumbstruck. Of course. Tachycardia, anxiety, tremors, malaise. Classic albuterol toxicity. The vet was young, but had just seen a case two weeks prior. She prescribes a beta blocker that tells the brain to stop making the heart beat so fast. I'm monitoring for vomiting to spare her the overnight stay at the vet. Doc says another effect is low potassium (super important for the heart) and her lab work confirms it. No real doggy potassium supplements, but doc says the beta blocker should be sufficient. I have some at home (propranolol for test anxiety) in the same dose I'd get at the pharmacy. Perfect. We head home, split pills for correctly prescribed dose, cheesy medication surprise. Fabulous.

On closer examination of the crime scene, I find the wheezing gun. It's empty. No idea how much she got. Hubby and daughter are both asthmatics, we have these things stuffed everywhere as we are an active family. Sage has a good prognosis on this spooky Halloween, but in the moment, I forgot all my knowledge. Learn from my scary evening.

No knew orders at this time. Will continue to monitor.

Smug pupper tax.

Bonus Bacon tax. She's such a good girl and doesn't need to be crated. But Sage does and they are both lovingly crate trained. Love their bed. Wasn't gonna be gone long and just forgot to put Bacon in with her. No, ma'am. Never again.