Help Urgent!!

[ClareH]

My 1 year old German Sheperd has just eaten a whole bag of Jelly sweets! He nicked them off the table while I popped upstairs! Is this really bad and should I take him to the vets? Thanks all in advance! x

[IcyMist]

Am a total novice at this, but couldn't you use something to make him/her vomit to get rid of sugar? I would call vet and talk to him immediately.

[ClareH]

Am ringing the vets right now. Is all the sugar really bad for him then? Thanks!

[ClareH]

Phew! I have just spoken tp the vet he said to keep a close eye on him for a day or two and keep feeling his stomach and if it feels hard and starts to swell to take him straight away. Otherwise he'll have runny poos for a few days! The he should be fine, the stomach problem is an extreme case though.

*releases a sigh of relief

Thanks for your help!!

[mara]

I'm looking forward to hearing what the vet has to say. I've never had a candy "incident"

[IcyMist]

Am glad that it doesn't seem that serious, but sounds like you will need to keep your eye on her for a short time. I pulled this from one site I saw.
Sugar overload

Q: I really love you web page!! As for my question....as a medical student I have been going round and round trying to figure out what happened to my 1 yr old Jack Russell Terrier last week. On Wednesday she went 'garbage diving' and ate an entire box of brown sugar + god knows what else. On Thursday, she had copious, cholera-like, watery diarrhea early in the day, then she progressively lost her spunk even though she was drinking fluids. During Thursday evening, she had a fever of 104.2, went into stupor, stumbled over herself, irregular gait, inability to get comfortable (stay still) etc. Although she was still responsive to her name and her favorite squeaky toys. Abdomen was distended, full. I took her to the ER where they said her reflexes were depressed, she had a fever, and was in danger of becoming dehydrated. Liver enzymes were just outside the high range of normal, and her WBC was elevated. Vet gave her a shot of ampicillin, and I took her home. During the night I gave her water, but she would not eat. Friday....much better prognosis, but still unsteady on her feet. Eye contact was more pronounced and she readily accepted watered-down baby cereal to which some salt was added. She ate/drank 3 bowls of it. After the first bowl, she had a seizure-type event which subsided and was not repeated. By Sunday, she was back to her JR terrier self, bouncing off the walls, What could have caused my dogs illness? Was it bacterial toxin from the garbage? (Can dogs get botulism or salmonella) Was it the dehydration ? For what it's worth, the Yellow Lab that shares her space has not been sick at all. Thanks for you insight and help! Dawn

A: Dawn- I think it is very likely that a whole box of sugar could lead to an osmotic induced dehydration or that it could lead to a bacterial overload or imbalance in the digestive tract that led to diarrhea. Dogs do get Salmonella and other food poisonings, so that is possible, too. Even fermentation of the sugar in the digestive tract seems possible, with excessive gas formation leading to pain and digestive problems and systemic signs. I'm just guessing at these things because I don't really have a reference that discusses ingestion of large quantities of sugar! It always amazes me how many things happen that aren't covered by the textbooks.

Hope this helps some.
Michael Richards, DVM

[Luvmyjob]

Were these jelly beans? If so were there the black licorice ones in it? If so this could pose a problem.

[bernicesmama]

luv, why black licorice?

[Moo]

I can't imagine it being dangerous.

She's probably throw up and have the runs for a while. You mught want to give him some pepto bismol later, and be sure to supply lots water.

[Deb's Tiny Dogs]

We had a Sheltie mix a while back. She was a sweets hound. It was Halloween time and the kids had been planning their "route" around the neighborhood for weeks! The day came and their haul was very admirable. After they were done for the night, we all went out to run an errand.

When we came back, Taffy had gone through both their bags like Grant took Richmond! It was unbelievable how much she ate, including lots of wrappers (I guess she wanted to be neat about it!)

I felt really bad because I hadn't put the bags up. The kids wanted to strangle her. Anyway, she got a decent bout of the runs for a few days then was fine again.

However, apparently we didn't learn. That Christmas we put chocolate candies in the kids stockings. Taffy ate huge holes through the back of the stockings until the candy fell out and then she ate it. This time she threw up a lot mostly from all the felt she ate.

She had repeat performances with tearing open a gift package of chocolate covered potato chips (my stepmom's fav) - she ate all the wrapping this time.

And the best - she ate a whole box of scented, colored markers (just the colored tips)! We came home and her whole face and tongue looked like a rainbow blew up on it.

Then - we FINALLY learned!