VMDiva

I received a call the other night from a distraught pet owner who sheepishly approached our conversation about his 5lb puppy. “I did something really stupid.” Uh-oh. I have heard a lot of crazy things so I was prepared for just about anything he was going to tell me. His voice cracked as he slowly said, “I can’t believe I thought this was a good idea.” I started to squirm then he admitted he gave his puppy “a few tablespoons of wine” and now realized it was an idiotic decision. Lethargy, and probably a drunken stupor, hit the puppy hard.

I decided the puppy, who was then walking around as the effects of the alcohol wore off, seemed stable. We spoke about what to expect and what clinical signs required emergency care. I’ve never heard back from him. After I hung up and realized I didn’t even ask him why he did it. Truthfully, I don’t think he even knew. I gave this guy the benefit of the doubt. We’ve all made stupid, thoughtless decisions which weigh heavily in our stomachs as we mull the horrible decision and try to rectify it. He clearly didn’t think. Any rational person would know not to feed any animal, let alone a small puppy, alcohol. He at least redeemed himself by calling my office to find out what he should do. Perhaps I was too lax, but I trust this man will never make this mistake again.

I like tangents and this case got me thinking about how I could measure a blood alcohol content (BAC) in a domestic pet. Breathalyzer is out. A quick search on Google failed to yield any available bedside blood alcohol tests. Laboratory tests exist but shipment of blood for a BAC would take too much time. Any veterinarian should provide decontamination and supportive care to any alcohol poisoning suspect pending any bloodwork. The animal would most likely have either recovered or died while waiting for BAC lab results.

I then tried to calculate the puppy’s BAC using The Original Blood Calculator. A full 5 oz glass of wine would have given Fido a fatal BAC of 0.813%. Two tablespoons equal 1 oz of wine, so Fido’s BAC may have been closer to 0.16%. While it is clinically interesting to speculate, this value may or may not be close to accurate given varying metabolisms between humans and dogs.

Animals entrust us with their care. Be smart and don’t abuse it by giving them alcohol. For more information on alcohol poisoning in domestic pets, check out this article on VIN!