Pets, Kids & Pills That Kill

Everything always seems so obvious, afterwards...I had puppies gifted to me as a young adult; they were best gift God ever gave me!  I changed purses to go out drinking and dancing and left my bottle of prescription Motrin 800mg at home where they belonged.  (As opposed to the ding dongs who think it's smart or cool to take them with alcohol; in fairness to them though, I had other ding dong moments, as this page will attest.)

Though I thought to change purses, what I didn't think to do was to put my purse up high enough to be out of reach for curious young dogs (or any pet) with good jumping skills. 

I came home at 5:30am and my 25lb American Eskimo dog, Sweet Baby, couldn't walk because he had consumed thousands of milligrams of Motrin. 

It's been over 20 years; I don't remember the exact amount but I do recall it being at least a few, if not several thousand milligrams.

I called the vet, frantic, asking if Baby was going to die? 

He said no, he'd be very sick and it would take a while for all of the muscle relaxers to wear off and for him to regain his ability to stand up and walk, but he wouldn't die.  Thank God and I did!

It was horrible seeing him try to stand; all of his legs kept going out from under him like a ragdoll. 

I was strong as a horse back then so carrying him around the house to be with me and to outside to go potty was no problem. 

It would be today. 

Thus, a side note to this article is that if and when

you have chronic pain and choose to hopefully,

rescue, a precious pet,

please factor your physical limitations into the picture because your lack of being able to lift and carry

doesn't change their needs to be picked up,

walked, bathed, brushed, taken to the vet's, etc...

If you have the income to pay someone to handle such needs, great, but most don't; so please be sure to consider these regular pet care needs and their costs as well.  I'm not saying don't have a pet, I'm saying, the smaller the better if lifting and carrying now challenges you; believe me, I know. 

If this situation had happened

after my spinal and shoulder injuries,

with the far stronger and numerous

narcotics and other pain related prescription pills I've had? 

My dog would have died. 

If you are a chronic pain person, (even if you don't carry a purse), please, please, PLEASE, make sure that ALL of your pills, prescription, OTC and even, your herbs and other supplements, are OUT OF REACH of your precious, curious, furry children!

If you click this next link from the Pet Poison Helpline, you will see how truly blessed I was that Baby lived because Motrin is in the #1 spot for being poisonous to pets!

http://www.petpoisonhelpline.com/pet-owners/basics/top-10-human-medications-poisonous-to-pets/

If you have regular kids vs. furry, you too need to be aware of the tragic consequences of not thinking about things like this.  Click:

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellness/accidental-ingestion-common-pills-kill-toddlers/story?id=10130146

For a comprehensive article on pet safety on multiple levels, click this link:

http://www.expertise.com/home-and-garden/pet-safety-guide

Visiting Pets and Kids

If you don't have pets or kids but are visiting a home that has either or both; or you are having company to your home that includes either or both, PLEASE keep your OTC pills and Rx's out of their reach, so that the visit does not end in a preventable tragedy.

Ditto handguns and any weapons that should not be in the reach of children.