Based on Dog Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook (see below), my suggestion was to induce vomiting as soon as possible and then give the dog activated charcoal.  If vomiting happens within an hour of ingestion, there’s every likelihood the dead bird will emerge in one piece.  The charcoal serves to block absorption of toxic elements.  I am no vet, but this still seems to me the best approach for the situation.

To induce vomiting, give:

1. Syrup of ipecac (one teaspoonful per ten pounds of body weight);
2. hydrogen peroxide 3% (one to three teaspoonsful every ten minutes; repeat three times;
3. one half to one teaspoonful of salt, placed at the back of the tongue.*

*  From Dog Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook by Delbert G. Carlson, D.V.M. and James M. Giffin, M.D., 1992 (p 24)

The vets, when reached, had a more cautious approach.  They recommended stomach x-rays, liquid charcoal and, possibly, intravenous hydration.  Their concern was that bird bones in the stomach might perforate the dog’s esophagus if vomiting were induced.  They were more inclined to let the carrion work it’s way out of the system naturally.  If the x-rays revealed dangerous bones, they said they would need to extricate those surgically.

The vets were not too worried about toxicity.  They said if the decay were really toxic, the dog would throw up spontaneously and, otherwise, the ingested animal would pass through the system and they could clean up afterwards with antibiotics.

As I said above, I am no vet.  I would love to receive vet comments to this post.  I guess it’s time to let people know we have a blog! – haven’t sent out notices yet.

An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.

He calmly came over to me and I gave him a few pats on the head. Then he followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.

An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks.

Curious I pinned a note to his collar: ‘I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.’

The next day he arrived for his nap, with a new note pinned to his collar: ‘He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 – he’s trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?’

Cresting the surface!

Postcard from Central Park, who knew?

Snow Angel - that's me!

Snow makes me frisky! how 'bout you?

That's not a deer . . . it's a Rhodesian Ridgeback!

There's game out here if you know where to look . . .

Look Ma, no legs!

]]> http://www.thedoghousenyc.com/new-york-city-dogs-love-snow-2/feed/ 0 http://www.thedoghousenyc.com/just-for-fun/ http://www.thedoghousenyc.com/just-for-fun/#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:57:37 +0000 Heather http://www.thedoghousenyc.com/?p=166 Want a smile?  Our dog walker Megan sent the following to me.  Type any command and see what happens.  (Try, for example, sit, down, roll over, sing, dance, fetch, play dead, beg, etc.  When you’re all done, type “kiss.”      http://www.idodogtricks.com/index_flash.html