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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Chewing Gum Can Be Lethal!

Hello! How are you this week?

I hope all of you are getting some warmer weather like we are getting here in Texas. Busy week with rehab and some other pressing issues but all in all I am good. Have not run away with anyone or done anything I could not write on here so I guess Maggie is behaving.

Today I wanted to warn all of you that love their precious dogs. The picture above is Toby! He is the spoiled child of my daughter Christi. Christi has had Toby now for 13 or more years and they are attached at the hip. You get the picture. Some of us can relate to being that close to their pets. Since Christi is single and no children I know how much Toby means to her.  I still am mourning over the loss of my sweet Forrest who I lost on Jan 26th.

Last Friday night Christi phoned me about 11:00PM so I knew something was wrong when I answered the phone being it was that late in the evening. She was crying and explaining to me that she was in the emergency room with her Toby. They had gone over to her boyfriends to have dinner and visit with his sister who had flown in from Calif. Jason's sister had her suitcase open and inside were packages of Orbit gum. Toby being the nosy fella that he is went inside her suitcase and ate two whole packs of the chewing gum. Thank goodness Christi discovered it in time and knew how lethal gum was to animals and took him immediately to the emergency room.

It was a very long night for all of us because they were not sure they were going to be able and save Toby. They kept him for twenty-four hours on an IV and induced vomiting several times to get the poison out of his stomach. Toby came very close to loosing his life over chewing gum. I don't know about you but I just can not believe that it is lethal to dogs. I am just so glad that Christi knew this and took immediate action.

Shocking that little things like gum can kill! I know most of you have pets so in case you were not aware of this I just had to do this post and share it with you. Please let your friends know also how dangerous chewing gum is to dogs. Not sure if it has the same effect on other animals but not willing to find out.

If it is so toxic makes me wonder if I will ever chew gum again. lol....Also I could not believe that this Vet place in Austin charged over eight hundred dollars for this care and would not do the first thing for Toby until Christi gave them the money. How sad is that...aren't Vets doctors who should be more concerned about saving a life than money. It is all about money now.

So everyone keep your chewing gum where your babies can't reach it and also Christi said grapes and chocolate too were harmful to dogs.

I know one thing that is going to be harmful to my cat Tinkerbell and that is a spray bottle of water if she dosen't quit slapping me at night to wake me up. She sleeps during the day so at night she acts like she swallowed a whole bucket of cat nip and she dances on the bed and me. If that doesn't get my attention then she starts the paw slapping on my face. Scares the you know what out of me when a hairy something is slapping my face. Yesterday I thought I would do that to her during the day as a way to get even with her for doing it to me so when I caught her sleeping I would slip up to her and gently start slapping her face. Well I got by with it the first few times. Like they said third times a charm she jumped up and bit me three times on my arm before I knew she was even awake. Good gosh how would she feel if I did that to her hairy arm. So tonight under the covers and lying next to me is a pink water bottle. Just bring it on Tinkerbell.....lol

Sweet Dreams

Maggie

34 comments:

Susan Anderson said...

Good idea with the water bottle!

(Sure glad the little dog survived. What a scary thing...)

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Anonymous said...

I am so thankful Christi was able to get her sweet Toby to the emergency room in time to save him. Wow! That bill is outrageous!

I think every pet owner should have a list of things that are lethal to pets and keep it handy at all times. You posted 3 deadly ones and there are many more dangers that a lot of people do not know about.

I know it cannot not be fun nor funny what Tinkerbell is doing, but I couldn't help but laugh as I read about her dancing on your bed while you want to sleep. Hope she starts dancing in the daytime soon.

Many hugs sweet Maggie

Debby said...

Glad the doggie survived. I have had three blonde cocker spaniels. I would have thought it was because the gum would get lodged. Makes you think about chewing gum.
Can't believe the vet or ER wanted the money first. Who has $800 cash on hand. So sad.
Funny about your cat. Can't believe she bit you.
Thanks for your concerns and prayers. It has helped so much.
(((((HUGS)))))

Pat said...

So glad Toby is ok. So very hard when your fuzzy baby is ill. I didn't know about chewing gum and dogs. Onions are toxic to dogs too. I've had dogs all my life and just found out about grapes and onions in the last year.

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

LOL, Maggie! It's funny reading you tell it, but I can just imagine being scared at feeling a smack in the middle of the night when you are sleeping. I did not know about chewing gum; I only knew about chocolate. I'm glad she's okay.

Tracy said...

Oh goodness Maggie,
I am so thankful Christi knew to get her precious Toby to the ER~Thank you God for saving that little life. I did NOT know that and so glad I do...it would devastate us if anything happened to Hurricane~ I did know grapes were lethal, but certainly not gum...wow!
I'm afraid Tinkerbell is in for a very rude awakening come bedtime. I don't think she'll bother you again another night and if she does, she's just asking for it! Angel-Kitty climbs into the covers and starts 'kneading' on my arms while I am sleeping or she'll start licking my face. Really? Seriously, Angel-Kitty. But ahhh, pets are wonderful nonetheless.
thanks for an informative post...

LuLu Kellogg said...

I am so glad Toby is ok. I sure did not know that chewing gum was lethal to dogs!

LOL @ Tinkerbell getting ready to get sprayed when she smacks you again!

I am off to Florida on Thursday for the Marie Antoinette art event and to Disney! I will take lots of pics so you can see!!!

Love you Maggie!
LuLu~*xoxo

susanc said...

So glad Toby is okay and that Christi knew to take immediate action. I know what you mean about the $$$ that vets charge. I unfortunately have first-hand experience and spent $$$ and they still charged me even though I had to have my pet euthanized and was told that he could perform surgery, but that it would run over $2,000.00 and that it wasn't a guarantee. It devastated me that I did not have the money to save my pet's life and still have not gotten over this.

CB said...

OK your slap fight with your cat is making me laugh right out loud! Cats are certainly stinkers!!

I did not know about gum being lethal to animals. Yikes. I'm glad that your daughters dog is allright.

Sue @ Not the Good Scissors! said...

Who knew! I thought I had heard and read just about everything that is lethal or very harmful to pets but I don't recall seeing anything about chewing gum. So glad he is going to be O.K.

Sorry to hear that you have been behaving. Just kidding!
Hugs

Welcome to the Garden of Egan said...

I am so glad the dog is OK.
I had no idea!
I had heard about chocolate.....which is good cuz it leaves more for me.

Glad everything is good.
Think of you often.......especially when it's snowing and blowing here.

Gorges Smythe said...

We fed our first little Dachshund small amounts of grapes and milk chocolate until we learned better. She loved both and they never SEEMED to hurt her, but who is to say?

Julie Harward said...

I had no idea the gum could do that! I am so glad they saved her dog! :D

Deb said...

I didn't know that about gum...I guess you learn something new every day...glad the pup was okay

Julia said...

I'm glad that Toby is Ok, but $800.00 is absolutely ridiculous. What has happened to compassion. That makes me glad that I don't have a cat or dog anymore.

I hope that you get your revenge with Tinkerbell tonight. JB

Kim said...

How scary. I didn't know that about gum either. But I am laughing at you turning the tables on poor sleepy tinker bell. Ms. Pearl vs Tinkerbell.....quite a battle!

sjmcdowell said...

Hi Maggie,

Oh my I am so glad Toby is alright after that horrible gum episode!! Poor Christi must have been beside herself with worry!!

I think Stinker Tinkerbell needs a shower!!!

Love and Hugs,

Susan
xxoo

Karen said...

I am definitely passing this info on. I had no idea about gum and dogs. Then your kitty's antics were sorta funny.... I know... I can say that... it's not me!
Eat More Papaya!
Karen
Ladybug Creek

Debbie said...

It's not the actual gum, it's the sugarfree gum, and it's the artifical sweetner in it, is what I was told. Never feed a dog anything with artifical sweetner. Glad Toby is doing well now, and I have used a water bottle many times for training. Good trick and it doesn't hurt them, just hurt their feelings...LOL

God Bless~
Debbie Jean

Tam said...

Maggie so happy Toby is going to be okay. I had a friend that went through this with her dog but they were not able to save hers. Time is what you are dealing with when they get a hold of gum. So sad and a lot of people don't know this.
Your wonderful for sharing it with your friends.
I have to laugh thinking about you under the covers with a spray bottle and PINK at that. lol
Poor Tinkerbell will not know what to think.
Keep us posted on that
Hugs
Tam

June said...

Maggie, I didn't know this about gum. So glad you posted about this danger. My little dog ca sniff out chocolate no matter where I hide it, so I have to keep it up high.

Naughty little Tinkerbell. And this is why Jackson is sleeping in the studio every night...or not sleeping.hehe
big hugs

1goldblog said...

Hello, how are you? nice blog...

NitWit1 said...

Is it the gum or what's in it. We have none, thank goodness, as Luckie is the ultimate food stealer, loaves of bread being her favorite.

There are artificial sweeteners that are deadly too.

Bread can be too, if they bloat, or worse consume the plastic wrap.

When we leave her alone, wwe make a "sweep" of the house, include securing her food storage. She would eat it all at one setting if accessible.

She is a rescue dog. Thanks for the warning as our pets are our children.

Libbie said...

SO glad Toby is okay! I had no idea about the gum! So glad Kristi did! I really am glad Christi is so smart! :)

Oh man if you think it is cold there ;) We really could use spring!!! It really is gettimg old right now :) Hope you are staying warm!

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

Thanks for the warning.. I never knew that chewing gum could be fatal to dogs and I am the original animal geek....

It's cold and snowy here, but I am sure spring is just around the corner.

Hope you are feeling ok, take care of yourself sweetie!

Nezzy (Cow Patty Surprise) said...

Oh girl, I'm so glad that little Toby is good. I've had dogs 'round all my life and knew about the grapes and chocolate but had no clue about gum. Now, I'm hesitant to give gum to my grandkiddos. I'm the one with a candy dish always heaped with gumballs. :o)

Yep, those cats can go for docile to demon in the blink of an eye! The water bottle is a good move!

God bless ya sweetie and have a great night's sleep!!! :o)

acorn hollow said...

Glad all is well now with toby I did not know about chewing gum. the spay bottle is a good idea but you may sleep in wet covers.
Cathy

Sharon said...

thanks for letting us know about gum. I never heard that one. I heard about the grapes,onions and choc.
I am so glad that things turned out good for her.
Yes, this day and age is all about GREED>
Hugs

A Tale of Two Cities said...

Can't wait to see how that plan plays out. Please, please update us soon!

Sweet dreams,
Debi

Anonymous said...

And remember, Raisins are harmful - just dried grapes.

Donna said...

Poor Toby...glad he'll be OK! I heard the same about onions and dogs too.
Thanks for the giggle of the day with Tinkerbelle...funny visions of you biting and spraying her..hahaha! Good luck with sleep tonight...wish I could be a bug on the wall and watch...ha!

Ana said...

My dear friend Maggie,
It is always so wonderful to hear from you. Thank you for your visit and sweet comment. You just brighten my cloudy day :-) Thank you...Oh, and thank you for the warning...I didn't know gum was dangerous for dogs. I knew chocolate was. As a matter of fact, Cookie, my sweet little chihuahua, once helped herself to some and ended up in the ER too. She's okay now, but no more leaving chocolates on the coffee table :-P Happy to hear Toby is going to be okay. Thank you again for sharing. Have a wonderful day.

Much love,
♥Ana

Kaye Swain - SandwichINK for Grandparents and Caregivers said...

VERY good info. I'll pass it on to the owners of each granddog I am blessed with. We had heard of chocolate but don't think they know about gum! Very much enjoyed the cat story too :) :) :)

Karen Whittal said...

I never knew that chewing gum was so dangerous, my dog personally prefers socks, swallows them whole, and believe it or not they come out whole, not sure why Kayla won't retrieve them....... hope he gets better soon,