Pup has lucky escape after wolfing down cold medicine

29 March 2018

Jack Russell crossbreed puppy Duke was saved by our vets after he got his paws on a cold and flu sachet containing paracetamol.

Nathan Chapman (27) and his partner Nikki Mortimore (43) from Hartcliffe, Bristol, awoke in the morning to find a chewed up packet of the human medication in their 12-week-old pup’s bed.

“I went to let him outside and noticed the packet amongst his bedding, I immediately panicked and realised something wasn’t right,” said Nathan.

“Nikki suggested calling PDSA and the vets told us to bring him straight in. Duke seemed ok but it was difficult to tell how much he had eaten so we were really worried.”

Vets at our Bristol Pet Hospital assessed Duke and immediately began treatment. However, an antidote used to counteract the effect of paracetamol was not in stock at the hospital, so a desperate rush to locate some ensued.

Penny Morgan, PDSA vet, said: “The sachet contained 1,000mg of paracetamol which for a large adult dog may not cause too many problems, but for a young puppy like Duke could be fatal.

“We treated him for a ‘worst case scenario’ but didn’t have any N-acetylcysteine – a drug which acts as an antidote to paracetamol-induced toxicity. We contacted local vet practices and one of our vet nurses travelled across the city in order to get hold of the drug we needed to save Duke.”

Duke was given the medication and was monitored closely before being deemed well enough to return home.

Nathan said the couple were extremely grateful to PDSA for saving Duke.

He said: “I’m so happy that he made such a good recovery without any lasting effects. He’s such a lively puppy and it’s definitely made us more vigilant when it comes to storing medicines in a place where he can’t get his paws on them!

“PDSA were fantastic and they really went out of their way to help Duke.”