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1468406 tn?1286489142

OT: My dog ODed on baclofen!!!

I just got back from an emergency vet visit with my 6 month old chihuahua/terrier mix. He had started acting really lethargic, and then he began having constant tremors that shook though his body over and over. Our vet met us at the office. The only thing we could come up with is that when I took my baclofen at noon I dropped one on the floor and didn't realize it.

Edward (the puppy) chews and eats everything we don't keep off the floor. The baclofen would explain all of his symptoms, including an extended bladder. The vet had us walk him and watched him pee, and he literally didn't stop for 2 minutes. He gave Edward activated charcoal to absorb the medicine and said he will be fine after he sleeps the rest of the effects off, but I feel so horrible for poisoning my puppy!

Melissa
15 Responses
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Avatar universal
I just had to put my 3 1/2 month old lab mix puppy to sleep after eating what we have come to realize was baclofen. At first we thought it was atenonol that she ate but now we know from reading other posts it's definitely baclofen. I regret having her put to sleep but it had been 7 hours after she ate it before we could get her to the vet. She was lifeless. She couldn't walk and every 10 minutes or so she would have something like convulsions or tremors and cry. It was so hard to watch. I'm so happy for all the people who's dogs ate this medication and lived. The vet told me she didn't think all the money in the world could save my precious Willow. I hope nobody ever has to experience what I did going through that. She was my baby and so full of life. She was taken from me and never had a chance. Rest in Doggy Heaven my sweet baby girl.
Helpful - 0
1337734 tn?1336234591
Oh, poor puppy! I am so glad he turned out OK! I know how you feel. I once dropped a Baclafen and my dog (a 65lb. Golden retriever) Luckily she spit
it out! I am extra careful now!

Good luck to you and Edward!

Deb
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
im so glad your puppy is ok my dog just died he ate 5 50mg baclofen chewed through the pill bottle to get him took him to the vet right away but he was only five pounds the vet tried to save him gave him charcoal and iv fluids but they said he was suffering to much and that if we loved him it would be best for us to let him go instead of suffering it was the hardest decision to make but i didnt want him to suffer. i feel like it is all my fault my cat was scoobys best friend and is now walking around meowing looking for scooby. you are so lucky your dog made it and im so grateful that you didnt have the experience me and my husband did with scooby. ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN REST IN PEACE SCOOBY YOU ARE IN MY HEART FOREVER AND WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN. YOU ARE THE BEST DOG EVER AND I WISH YOU WERE STILL HERE
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My 10 month old 4.5lb yorkie puppy ate 1/2 of a 20mg Baclofen ( a non-narcotic muscle relaxer), 2 days ago.  I am posting this so that others may gain from my experience. Despite getting her to vomit, In about 15 minutes we started to see a reaction, wobbly, dizzy, nausea, vocalizing.  Internet searches indicated this could be a life threatening event so we decided to go to the emergency vet.  They were unfamiliar with this type of drug so I had to call Animal Poison Control, pay $65 to open a claim # and refer the dr. to them for info on treatment.  There is no antidote for this drug, in fact a narcotic would have been better, at least they have an antidote for that, was one of the things I was told. Ok, problems could run from seizures to rapid heart beat, aspiring her own vomit, (by now she had vomited 4 times), to needing a ventilator.  The estimate for 1 or 2 day stay was shocking with no guarantee of success. The only treatment for this exposure at this point is famotidine injection to prevent acid reflux, and another injection of an anti-vomit medication, ringers saline to help flush the drug from her system, blood gas testing for various things cardiac and b/p monitoring throughout. Definitely not a home care situation. Poison control was able to tell me at least statistically, no dogs have been reported back as not surviving her level of mg/kg. This is not to say that no dog perished, just no one has reported back to them that their dog didn't survive this level which was about a 5. At about 8mg/kg there is a high probability of respiratory failure, cardiac arrest, and even death. x-rays were taken of her lungs to ensure she had not aspirated any vomit for if so it would have lessened her chance of survival for obvious reasons. The half life of this drug is much longer for dogs than humans and could be several days before it cleared her system.  I am happy to report that our puppy did survive and was released the next afternoon.  She was very tired and still vocalizing but traumatized by the experience. She slept in my arms for several hours, but did not eat, only wanted water. The next morning, now the second day she was back to her old self, eating, playing, etc but still a bit overly attached to my presence,  preferring me to her own birth mother. That too has now passed and she is 100% recovered.  I must say it was a horrible experience and a big expense but taking her to the ER was the right choice as I don't think she would have made it by just waiting it out at home.  I hope this info is useful and by my sharing another tragedy can be averted.  
Helpful - 0
352007 tn?1372857881
I'm so very glad your dog is doing ok! Phew!!!!  I can't imagine the guilt you must of felt but no worries now because your puppy is going to be ok!!!

250.00 for the vet bill? Oh wow!  

(blows kisses to little Edward)

Lisa
Helpful - 0
1468406 tn?1286489142
Edward is doing great this morning. He woke up his normal, overly-energetic self today. His bladder isn't distended and he is tossing a tennis ball around trying to get me to play with him. So other than the wake-up call to me about being much more careful with my meds, and my husband being very upset over the $250 emergency vet bill, everything is good and back to normal.

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes for my little Edward!
Melissa
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I put all my meds in a small container, actually the lid of a big bottle of multivitamins, to make sure everything is there. I have several big pills which I take one by one,, and the smaller ones I can do several at a time.

While taking the pills I lean slightly over the bathroom sink,  to make sure nothing falls on the floor. I too have a pooch who would eat anything and I worry about that constantly, because even a relatively harmless med might could seriously injure a 15 lb. dog.

Can think of times when I've dropped a pill, and then everything stopped. Dog out of sight, bathroom rug slightly shaken, hands and knees on the floor, till the tablet was finally found. What a relief. Doing things the new way means that won't happen.

So glad little Edward is recovering well! Please give him some scritches for me.

ess

Helpful - 0
1394601 tn?1328032308
awww..poor little guy.  I hope he feels better by morning.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thank goodness your puppy is ok. I have 2 chihuahuas and I have dropped Ambien before and found them in my bed later. I make the mistake of taking handfuls of my meds at a time and 1 pill has stuck to my hand. Now I take 1 or 2 at a time.

So happy to hear he will be ok.
Kristi
Helpful - 0
1468406 tn?1286489142
I guess I hadn't realized how clumsy my hands had gotten. I am going to have to be extra careful from now on. We were definitely very lucky. The vet said I recognized something was wrong very quickly - the baclofen had only been absorbed by the stomach and he was able to give him the activated charcoal before it reached the intestines.

Evidently when a "poison" reaches the intestines, the thin walls allow it the be reabsorbed by the body, basically poisoning the puppy a second time and often times worse than when it was originally absorbed. Well, I think that is what he said/explained! I'm not sure I grasped the finer details at the time.

The vet said there shouldn't be any permanent damage at all, but it might take 12-18 hours for him to be completely back to normal.

Melissa
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I know the feeling! When we were at my younger brother's house our dog, which was a puppy at the time, got into some rat poison he had under his stairs in the garage. We had to take her in to the emergency vet, and they made her eat charcoal, too. She was not a happy camper about it at all. We lucked out and she was alright afterwards.

I'm glad your little Edward is alright.

-Kelly
Helpful - 0
1532707 tn?1312155924
That sounds expensive, you are lucky if he didn't have to be put on Iv fluids and hospitalized. I am very glad your puppy is ok. Are there any permanent possible side effects?
Helpful - 0
667078 tn?1316000935
I have my medications in a plastic bin so if I drop one it does not go far. I count my pills as I take them. I take them in a room away from the puppy. I am very clumsy as well.

Alex
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My dog also eats everything. I am clumsy with my hands an constantly dropping pills. so I always have to be sure to find them, which isn't always easy because they are SO small! I have to remind my son of the same thing.

I'm so glad that your dog is okay.
Helpful - 0
667078 tn?1316000935
You are very lucky you caught it. That said puppies are easily poisoned since they will eat anything. One or two Ibuprofen can kill a  large dog.

Sometimes we are very careful and thing just happen. Blaming ourselves does little good.
You had a happy ending and that is all that matters.

Alex

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