Deathly Gum
So, as I’m working on revisions for SUMMONING THE NIGHT this past week, we had a little . . . incident in the Bennett family. I left the house one evening while the hubs was having dinner with his friend, Jay. My mission: to procure a spiky $1.99 ball for Pug #1. His favorite toy. The toy he can’t live without. (He’s destroyed about 50 of these toys over the years.) I was only gone 45 minutes. I returned, expecting to be greeted with joy, but instead found Pug #1 vomiting up every stinking piece of his dinner while Pug #2 looked on, aloof, from the couch. My first thought was, “What the $@&! did he get into now?” This was quickly followed by, “Awesome. Now I get to clean up dog vomit.”
You should understand that Pug #1 is the worst behaved of the Two Bad Pugs in my household, having consumed over the years: Christmas lights, wire, dental floss, dryer sheets, toilet paper, all four corners of my wooden coffee table, the gigantic rubber leg of a toy, and some *cough* other random things that I’m too embarrassed to tell you about. You might think, “Where was his owner when he was eating all of these things.” Flitting around the Caribbean? No, try just the next room over, or even RIGHT IN THE SAME ROOM WITH MY BACK TURNED FOR TEN SECONDS. These are not neglected dogs, believe me. They are pampered, spoiled beasts, rotten as sin and wicked as the devil himself.
So was I really all that surprised when I spotted the strange white balls in Pug #1’s vomit? Not really. One whiff of a strong, sweet artificial melon scent told me what he’d gotten into. Gum balls. That’s right—gum. What. The. Hell. Oh, yes—I’d forgotten a small plastic canister of Mentos Gum on a side table. I followed a trail of objects that Pug #1 had stolen from the table—including a staple remover and a stapler. Then, low and behold! Underneath a chair, I found the gum canister. The lid had been kindly re-closed (he’s talented) and one single piece of gum rattled inside.
It’s just gum, I thought. And I proceeded to count the number of pieces in the vomit. Yes, I DUG THROUGH DOG VOMIT. Give or take, he’d probably consumed and thrown up about 20 pieces of Melon-apple Mentos gum.
No need to panic, right? Probably not, but just in case, I googled it anyway. And guess what I found: gum that’s sweetened with Xylitol (a substance that’s being used in more and more gums and candies these days) is FREAKING TOXIC TO DOGS. Not just a tiny bit toxic, but so toxic that five pieces of xylitol gum have been reported to kill small dogs and cats in a matter of minutes.
Pugs are wee things, and mine ate 20 pieces.
I called the animal ER. It wasn’t the first time I’d called them for this particular dog. I should have them on speed dial. I hoped against hope that they’d tell me to just observe him, but they instead said, “Oh, God. Bring him in immediately!”
Long story short (let’s skip the hand-wringing and crying, shall we?), Pug #1 was rushed into the ER, detoxed, and stayed there overnight. But he would be okay, right? Well, they tested his liver, and some ALP reading that should have been 100 was 1500. Not good.
That meant a trip to his regular vet to retest the liver a couple days later. His numbers had fallen slightly, but were still ghastly high. Which now means medication for a month, then another retest.
Meanwhile, $1000 later (yes, that’s right), Pug #1 hasn’t had a CLUE as to what he did wrong. He’s happy as lark, his usual high-octane self, playing and barking and living the high life. I’m hoping that’s a good sign, and that when I take him back next month, his test results will be normal. But I’ve learned that when it comes to pugs, nothing is normal or easy . . . or cheap. They are allergic to everything (no corn, wheat, or soy), shed like mammoths, can’t be left outside in the heat, and are prone to a bajillion horrific congenital disorders.
But, God help me, I’d do just about anything for the damned beastie. So stay tuned to find out if we’re out of the woods, or if I’m going to have to shell out thousands of dollars for a million additional tests & procedures to determine the underlying cause of Pug #1’s abnormal liver results.
I’ll tell you one thing. They’ll be no more sugar-free gum in the Bennett household. Just add that to the long list of things that will kill a small animal. I think I need a T-shirt for Pug #1 that says: “I’ve eaten raisins, chocolate, & toxic gum. What have YOU done today?”
Update: Regarding those elevated liver test results that scared the bejesus out of us? Well, I’m happy to report that one month later, his liver was back to normal. He lives to tell the tale!
August 30, 2011 @ 6:34 PM
I have a Frenchie and he is much like your pug, allergic to any grain. Luckily he is content with chewing on bully sticks. He just thinks he should have them twice a day which I can’t afford and are not good for him.
Remy is fascinated with slugs, but he got sick on one so I have to watch him carefully outside. He also likes to chomp at yellow jackets-yup allergic there too.
Training him is like working with middle schoolers-takes a lot of patience-sometimes you can cajole them into doing what you want (30 yrs teaching middle school.)
But he is my boy and I love him dearly-so does my hubby.
August 30, 2011 @ 9:01 PM
That’s like (not really) my sisters cat but instead of just eating everything in sight he’s just… messed up. He has allergies (yes, allergies) which makes him allergic to pretty much everything. He has to be given a steroid otherwise he gets really sick and well since he’s on this steroid he has no immune system. He has gotten so sick in the past that he has one collapsed lung. Every year, they have to renew his steroid, but to do that they have to get his liver tested since the steroid can cause liver damage.
My cat has a problem with bugs in that he likes to eat them. He’s all cute doing gymnastics in the air clapping his paws together (he seriously does this), but as soon as he’s able he’ll eat it. Any bug… he doesn’t discriminate. He’ll even try to eat bumblee bee’s, yellow jackets, japanese beetles (you’d think he’d remember how bad they taste). Although, he does have a penchant for playing with and hiding all my hair banders.
August 31, 2011 @ 2:29 AM
readerdiane: Oh, a Frenchie! I love Frenchies! My pugs both love bully sticks, too. And rawhide. I can’t say they’ve tried slugs or yellow-jackets (poor Remy!), but I wouldn’t put it past my oldest pug (the main trouble-maker). And if you taught middle-school for 30 years, then you, my dear, are a SAINT! Maybe my pugs could learn some manners from Remy. They could share a slug or two. 🙂
Tiffany: Oh my goodness, your sister’s cat — poor thing! Steroids? Lung collapse? I can only imagine how stressful that is on cat and sister. But I would, however, really like to see *your* cat going after bugs, LOL! Maybe you should put that up on youtube, if you can ever catch it on video. And more yellow-jacket eating? I guess I should be thankful that we haven’t seen many of those evil things down here where we live in Atlanta. Yikes!!!
August 31, 2011 @ 10:00 AM
You all are far, far braver than I. My husband and I are crashing with a cousin until we get an apartment, and she runs a dog kennel. The sheer number of precautions she has to take for dogs with special diets, special treats, special toys and other assorted special needs is staggering. Good luck with your winsome little beasts:)
August 31, 2011 @ 5:16 PM
Cath: Wow, I can’t even imagine how hard it would be to run a kennel. Tip of the hat to your cousin for patience! And my winsome little beasts need all the luck they can get, so thank you kindly for the well wishes! 😀
August 31, 2011 @ 8:32 PM
dude I so feel you here.. Yama has eaten rubber bands ,makeup, scrunchies, feminine products(eww) and a stuffed octopus.. he is awful and doesn’t even think twice.. and then pukes all over my bed til I take him to the vet.. sigh..
But I love the old guy
September 1, 2011 @ 12:36 AM
Syn: OMG, hilarious! I mean, not the vomiting and vet bills part, but the mischief. Oh, Yama. Stop driving your mom insane!
A family member once visited someone who had a frisky poodle. As she was unpacking, she saw the poodle happily running out of the room with one of her *ahem* feminine products clamped in his mouth.
September 2, 2011 @ 3:48 PM
Hi Jenn, I just bought your first Arcadia book and followed your author page on Amazon to this blog. Your pugs sound adorable and hilarious, and the “damn fine gum” caption just about KILLED me!
It wasn’t all that long ago that my roommate got around 3lbs of chocolate as gifts for her college grad…and my dog ate ALL of it. Such an exciting evening. Fortunate she’s outgrown the stage where she would proudly gather undergarments for all to see.
So glad your pug seems okay!
September 2, 2011 @ 4:40 PM
Holly: Aww, thank you for buying my book, and I hope you enjoy it!
3 lbs of chocolate? Your dog is WonderPup! She and my dogs would probably get on like a house on fire. Even as I type this, the pug who ate the gum just walked up to me with a piece of dental floss in his mouth, as if to say, “Look what I found! It’s a Friday surprise!!”
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