When your dog is sick and you don’t yet know what’s wrong, it can be impossible to think about anything else. Since our dogs can’t tell us how they’re feeling, it’s also easy to start thinking the worst, most panic-inducing thoughts.
Northampton resident Charlie Oliver stayed up all night on November 10th, 2021 worrying about her dog Spud. The 7-month-old Cocker Spaniel’s behavior had changed, and he started throwing up.
Oliver told Mirror:
“Spud was fine at first, then he became really listless, he was lying down, he wasn’t running about. Then he started to vomit, and he’s never really done that.”
Don’t Let The Internet Be Your Vet
Since Spud’s mysterious lethargy and vomiting were all Oliver could think about, she started imagining the worst possibilities. Looking up symptoms online made things even more stressful.
“I went to Google it – and I’ve learned you should never google it, because it had me convinced he was dying.”
A wide variety of things can cause stomach issues in dogs, so unsurprisingly, the internet was not all that helpful.
“Google was bringing up results about whether he’d eaten a nut, or whether he’d eaten a poisonous leaf. I thought ‘he’s probably eaten something poisonous, because the world’s so dangerous.”
Some Revealing Evidence
When Oliver ventured into the kitchen at 3 am, unable to sleep, she finally connected the dots of this mystery.
“It was when I was downstairs that I discovered the dental chew packet in his bed. The wrapper was in one of his dog beds, tucked away in a pillow bit of it. I thought ‘You cheeky sod’.”
It turns out Spud had chewed a hole through a box of dental treats and eaten every last one. In all, Spud ate 35 treats. So the mysterious illness turned out to be a really full tummy.
From the way he carried on, you might have believed too that Spud was seriously ill. Those powerful Cocker eyes made him seem especially pained.
“He just hammed it up. I swear Cocker Spaniels are known for this. He was just looking at me with sad eyes, so I was really worried.”
Still not sure how the sneaky pup managed to even pull this off, Oliver added:
“I don’t know he managed it either, it’s not like he’s on his own. He’s been really ninja about the whole thing.”
Spud Emerges From His “Food Coma”
After an extremely stressful night, Spud was totally fine in the morning, while his mom was “fuming.” So much energy wasted.
“I was genuinely panicking. He was so young, I didn’t understand what could be wrong. Then I found out he’d just been a greedy pig.”
Of course, there was also this huge sense of relief that her dog wasn’t dying but just experiencing the consequences of thinking with his nose.
“I was happy that I knew what was wrong, but I can’t even explain the farts that came from him. They were something else. I could never make a candle out of it, that’s for sure.”
So it seems there are a few lessons from this story: 1 – Make sure to keep your dog’s treats somewhere definitively inaccessible, and 2 – dogs can be real drama queens.
Note: Overindulging in treats can be life-threatening if your dog develops bloat or a gastrointestinal blockage. While everything worked out fine for Spud, your pup may not be so lucky. When in doubt about your dog’s health, it is always best to seek veterinary care!
H/T: Mirror
Toledo, United States.
