Yellow Dog Ilsa

Sometimes carsickness is a good thing. This evening, Ilsa, my German Shepherd puppy, ate a tube of cadmium yellow oil paint.

Cadmium is a poison that destoys kidney function as well as liver function. Ingestion of cadmium is associated with salivation, choking attacks, persistent vomiting, abdominal pains, spasms of the anal sphincter, vertigo and loss of consciousness. These effects have been observed mainly in individuals exposed to high levels of cadmium in food.

This demanded rapid intervention, before the ingested paint passed the pylorus. I put Ilsa in the Jeep, and began driving about the neighborhood to induce vomiting. Meanwhile, my wife called the vet. As I swerved along the road, jinking right and left, swooping into alley ways to get some air time, with Ilsa retching up mustard colored vomit, my cell phone rang. "We need H2O2!" my wife said. I told her to draw some up in a 60cc cath tip syringe as I made my way back to the house.

Once back at the house, I jammed the syringe into the dog's gullet and gave her 30ccs of hydrogen peroxide before she jerked away. She gave me a "What the hell did you do that for?" look and promptly up chucked foamy yellow tinged emesis. I gave her several more doses, spacing them out two to three minutes apart until she could vomit no more.

Finally, Ilsa had to endure possibly the worst intervention in her little doggie mind. She needed a bath. She got her bath, and is presently sequestered in the bathroom wondering how art could be so traumatic. I believe she is now more likely to take up the oboe rather than oil painting.

For the next few days, I will watch her, make certain she urinates without problems, and has no bloating. I expect she will be fine.