As the old adage goes, a dog is a man's best friend, but the dog might have something to say about that after being accidentally poisoned.
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A concerned dog owner was shocked when she came home and found that her boyfriend had accidentally given her pet the wrong medicine. Vets had prescribed medication for a urinary tract infection for the pooch, but Ambien had been given instead.
Per Drugs.com, Ambien is a sedative and is also known as Zolpidem. The drug affects chemicals in the brain that may be unbalanced in people with sleeping problems. Ambien is typically used to treat patients with insomnia, which is a condition that makes it hard to fall or stay asleep.
Becky Carstens, the owner of two dogs, joked in a press release from Pet Poison Helpline, "I take a man's amount of Ambien." She explained that she was running out of her medication, so she put the 'near empty' bottle on the counter near the dog medication. However, when she returned, her boyfriend told her that he had medicated both dogs.
Carstens knew this wasn't right, as she had run out of UTI medication for her dog, Nellie. She quickly realized her boyfriend had given Nellie Ambien instead and called her vet. The vet told her to call the Pet Poison Helpline.
The press release reveals that both of Carstens's dogs take prescription medicine. One comes in a blue bottle, and the other in brown. The Ambien came in a similar brown bottle.
Toxicology Experts Were Concerned About Side Effects For The Dog
Nellie needed specialist treatment from a veterinary toxicologist instead of a regular vet. According to the press release, there are more than 124,000 veterinarians in the US. There are less than 100 veterinary toxicologists.
Carstens took her dog to Urgent Pet Care in Omaha, Nebraska. The toxicologists were reportedly concerned about 'blood pressure changes, severe neurologic depression or agitation, and an increase in heart rate.'
Fortunately, Nellie was in good hands. The medical team managed to get the dog to vomit. They also made her ingest 'activated charcoal' to absorb some of the Ambien. Experts monitored Nellie overnight and placed her on IV fluids.
After the ordeal, Carstens explained, "Nellie's doing great now, but it was a scary and expensive process." The vet bill was reportedly over $1200, but her pet insurance paid most of it.
