Two Dogs Sick at the Same Time: Rosie and Ruby’s Story

When two dogs in the same household get sick at the same time, what is the first thing you suspect? Did they get into something they shouldn’t? Did they catch an infection?

Rosie and Ruby are housemates. Rosie is 5-years-old and Ruby is 7 months. They are happy, healthy Labrador Retrievers.

Two Dogs Sick at the Same Time: Rosie and Ruby's Story

One night, right after supper Rosie started drooling excessively and stagger around. Rosies mom, worried, took her to a vet immediately. The vet immediately suspected poisoning.

What did Rosie get into?

Leaving Rosie at the vet for urgent treatment, her mom went back home. She was going to check for any poisons Rosie might have gotten into. As she arrived, she found Ruby showing the same symptoms as Rosie; she loaded her up as well and hurried back to the clinic.

Ruby looked even sicker than Rosie did.

She couldn’t walk at all and was howling, barking and snapping at the air. It looked as if she was having hallucinations.

Rosie and Ruby received aggressive treatment for poisoning

Poor girls had to throw up to get rid of any poison that might still have been in their stomach. They were medicated to calm down and to get through the ordeal comfortably. Ruby was also injected with a compound to bind to the poison in her bloodstream.

After that, they were transferred to an emergency hospital where they could be monitored and cared for overnight.

They both recovered after 24 hours.

But what did make them both so sick? Ther mom searched for anything poisonous they might have gotten into but found nothing. Didn’t find any rat poison, no slug bait, no nothing at all. What could it have been?

Because it happened in the fall, the only logical answer to that was to suspect poisonous mushrooms.

Most mushrooms are either edible, harmless or could cause an upset stomach. Only very few are actually toxic. One group that belongs to the dangerous category are what are generally known magic mushrooms.

The signs of magic mushroom poisoning reflect the signs and symptoms Rosie and Ruby had.

Rosie and Rubys mom didn’t find any such mushrooms. But she discovered evidence of the girls feasting on a compost pile.

Do you know which mushrooms in your yard could poison your dog?

Original story:
Ghillie aged 5 and Mzungu aged 7 months

Related articles:
Symptoms To Watch For In Your Dog: Excessive Drooling
Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog: Drunken Gait, Ataxia

Categories: Conditions • Drunken gait • Excessive drooling • Poisoning • Symptoms

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Jana Rade

I am a graphic designer, dog health advocate, writer, and author. Jasmine, the Rottweiler of my life, was the largest female from her litter. We thought we were getting a healthy dog. Getting a puppy from a backyard breeder was our first mistake. Countless veterinary visits without a diagnosis or useful treatment later, I realized that I had to take Jasmine's health care in my own hands. I learned the hard way that merely seeing a vet is not always enough. There is more to finding a good vet than finding the closest clinic down the street. And, sadly, there is more to advocating for your dog's health than visiting a veterinarian. It should be enough, but it often is not. With Jasmine, it took five years to get a diagnosis. Unfortunately, other problems had snowballed for that in the meantime. Jasmine's health challenges became a crash course in understanding dog health issues and how to go about getting a proper diagnosis and treatment. I had to learn, and I had to learn fast. Helping others through my challenges and experience has become my mission and Jasmine's legacy. I now try to help people how to recognize and understand signs of illness in their dogs, how to work with their veterinarian, and when to seek a second opinion. My goal is to save others the steep curve of having to learn things the hard way as I did. That is the mission behind my blog and behind my writing. That is why I wrote Symptoms to Watch for in Your Dog, which has turned out being an award-winning guide to dog owners. What I'm trying to share encompasses 20 years of experience.

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