EckerNet.Com

It simply couldn\’t just be a relaxing holiday week could it?

Most of the members of the MN Militia gathered at our secluded outposts to enjoy the July 4th holiday. On the Fourth of July I left my dog Sadie behind to man the lakeside EckerNet outpost while I attended a conference at another MN Militia outpost. Several hours later I receive a call informing me that my dog apparently ingested some D-Con (rat poison) and inquiring what I wanted to do. Well knowing how nasty D-Con can be, what I did was speed to the rescue armed with information and materials given to me by the MN Militia\’s resident Vet Tech RC.

Interesting side note here…if you drive at high speed down country roads with your hazard lights flashing, people move out of your way and you can continue driving at speeds that surely set land speed records for an SUV.

Fortunately we finally got my dog to vomit….which is an interesting experience. Then medication was dispensed and I\’m happy to report it looks like she\’ll be just fine with no ill effects.

Special thanks for this go to RC, whom I owe untold amounts of gratitude. It\’s nice having connections like that, otherwise good luck finding a vet on a holiday.

Since I learned alot during this experience I thought I\’d share some of the knowledge. Although I would advise several things first

1. Get the f-ing poison out of the house. I don\’t care if it\’s hidden, mice will carry it away from there to wherever. And in my case, it supposedly was hidden until a grill was moved.
2. Consult your vet if at all possible…actually you\’ll have to for the real treatment.

Hopefully this will never be needed, but if you dog gets into D-Con, some basic steps

1. Get that dog to vomit ASAP. Hydrogen Peroxide works well, shoot it down their throat, and they should vomit. How much depends on the size of the dog, start with 5 ml. A rough guideline is 5 ml for every 10 lbs of the dog. It might take awhile to happen. In my case it was more than 10 minutes…and then only because she rode in my vehicle as I sped to rendezvous with RC. Although as most people will point out, my driving will make most puke, regardless of how much hydrogen peroxide they\’ve had.
2. Don\’t let the dog re-ingest the vomit.
3. Inspect the vomit. Yeah, that\’s the fun part. Is there poison in there?? How much??
4. Vitamin K-1. D-Con is nasty shit. Basically causes the victim to bleed and prevents their blood from clotting. Basically the dog will bleed to death internally as their organs dissolve. Vitamin K-1 counteracts that…helps their blood clot and so will basically keep your dog alive until their body flushes the stuff out naturally. You get this stuff from you vet and it is probably the one pet medication they sell that doesn\’t require a second mortgage on your house.
5. Keep the dog calm as possible. Watch them for signs of further distress.
6. Oh, and you can start breathing again at this point.
7. Find out who left the poison in a place for the dog to get to….kick their ass.

Hope it helps. I don\’t intend this as a comprehensive guide, but a number of suggestions that helped me through a more eventful
July 4th than I\’d hoped for. As always, consult your vet…I\’m not responsible if you fuck up, let them be responsible. Just offering helpful and unofficial advice.