Dog ingests Albutirol?

[toomanyfishes]

Well, the wife and one of our dogs Barron (Basenji) are at the vet emergency tonight and the rest of us here are on pins and needles waiting for the phone to ring.
Our daughters friend (asmatic) was visiting this afternoon and Barron, a very mischeivous little basenji who loves to chew up anything he can get his paws on, managed to get hold of this little girls inhaler.
I found the inhaler on the floor and without inspecting it returned it to my daughters friend.
The wife fed the dogs thier dinner and Barron didn't touch his food. He was very lethargic and acting very strange. The wife noticed and checked him out finding his little heart beating very fast.
After monitoring him for awhile and making several phone calls, we discovered the inhaler had been punctured - no doubt by Barron.
Anyone have any experience such as this, or is anyone out there in the vet field who can offer some advice?

 

[toomanyfishes]

Here's a pic of Barron

 

[Wet Whiskers]

First, I'm so sorry. That's so frustrating. You can dog proof your house all you can, but if they want to get into something, they always will. So, I'm a vet tech that used to work in a Critical Care and Internal Medicine facility for several years. What I can tell you may help, but seriously, this is based off my personal experience and your vet will know so much better. But in any case, I can say that Albuterol is often prescribed to our asthmatic patients (dogs and cats alike, but usually see this more with cats). Many asthmatic drugs at very similarly to speed, hence your dog being high and not wanting to eat. They will probably prescribe anti-arrhythmics to help keep his heart beat under control, keep him on fluids, and monitor his heart, kidneys, and liver. If they recommend keeping him over night and you can afford to do so, I would highly recommend it. That way they can see if his heart rate is changing and add and change different strengths of medication throughout the night. The medications I have used can be extremely effective, so effective they have to be closely monitored. Also, they may give him fluids with additives to help his kidneys flush to out his system, and this support can prevent kidney damage. For patients with these types of problems, we usually see a change within 12 hours and after 24 hours its the go or no go. However, complications from kidney damage or heart damage can occur. I have not seen a dog come in on Albuterol, but I have seen them drunk, stoned, speedy highs, coke highs, hallucinating on mushrooms, etc. Its not funny, and the poor animals can suffer, so no stupid comments please. I only mention this because I've seen them recover from all of these, some with lasting effects, but many pull through just fine. The biggest thing for tonight, I believe, will be making sure his heart continues to beat properly and to support his kidneys the best they can to eliminate the toxins. Good luck. Please tell us how Barron does...

 

[ryverrat]

Good luck I hope he pulls through fine- he is cute. Have been there myself (we thought the cat swallowed a baby aspirin- deadly for cats).

 

[jojo_nature]

I hope Barron makes a full recovery .

 

[toomanyfishes]

First, I'm so sorry. That's so frustrating. You can dog proof your house all you can, but if they want to get into something, they always will. So, I'm a vet tech that used to work in a Critical Care and Internal Medicine facility for several years. What I can tell you may help, but seriously, this is based off my personal experience and your vet will know so much better. But in any case, I can say that Albuterol is often prescribed to our asthmatic patients (dogs and cats alike, but usually see this more with cats). Many asthmatic drugs at very similarly to speed, hence your dog being high and not wanting to eat. They will probably prescribe anti-arrhythmics to help keep his heart beat under control, keep him on fluids, and monitor his heart, kidneys, and liver. If they recommend keeping him over night and you can afford to do so, I would highly recommend it. That way they can see if his heart rate is changing and add and change different strengths of medication throughout the night. The medications I have used can be extremely effective, so effective they have to be closely monitored. Also, they may give him fluids with additives to help his kidneys flush to out his system, and this support can prevent kidney damage. For patients with these types of problems, we usually see a change within 12 hours and after 24 hours its the go or no go. However, complications from kidney damage or heart damage can occur. I have not seen a dog come in on Albuterol, but I have seen them drunk, stoned, speedy highs, coke highs, hallucinating on mushrooms, etc. Its not funny, and the poor animals can suffer, so no stupid comments please. I only mention this because I've seen them recover from all of these, some with lasting effects, but many pull through just fine. The biggest thing for tonight, I believe, will be making sure his heart continues to beat properly and to support his kidneys the best they can to eliminate the toxins. Good luck. Please tell us how Barron does...

Good luck I hope he pulls through fine- he is cute. Have been there myself (we thought the cat swallowed a baby aspirin- deadly for cats).

I hope Barron makes a full recovery .

Whiskers, ryverrat and jojo thank you for your concern and advice.
Barron is home, and luckily did not have to stay overnight.
They recommended we wait it out a bit, said that the heart beat should come down after about 5 hours, and it did.
He is doing fine today, but he is still not entirely himself.
Which is good and bad. When he is himself he can be hell on wheels. He is not hyper, but he likes to get into stuff. The quiet and destructive type, if you know what I mean. But after looking into those eyes, you just don't have the heart to get mad. He is very mellow today and that's good, for today anyway. Although it will be nice to have him back to normal

 

[ryverrat]

Glad to hear he is ok. Sometimes they do the damnest things but we love them anyway.