Pippa the golden retriever and some warm Thanksgiving rolls.
Thanksgiving is a great day to be a dog if you're looking for some tasty food scraps. There’s a lot of activity in the kitchen, folks are walking around with plates dropping food and there’s always someone who had too much wine that loves to give a few treats to the dog.
However, your dog’s innocent Thanksgiving snacking can be hazardous for its health.
The Pet Poison Helpline (PPH) shared a story from Tennessee that’s a great reminder to be careful of what your dogs eat, especially during the hectic holiday season.
Last Thanksgiving, Pippa, a playful golden retriever from Knoxville, had a scare after eating six unbaked rolls and had to go to the emergency room.
via Pixabay
"I had left a dozen unbaked bread rolls on the kitchen counter to rise, covering them with a towel," Rebecca Collins, Pippa's pet parent, said in a statement shared by PPH. "When I went to put them in the oven, I found that half of them were gone. I knew I didn't eat them, but it took me a while to figure out what happened. It didn't occur to me Pippa would be interested in bread dough."
Collins started noticing that Pippa was acting strangely during her family’s holiday celebration.
"I noticed that Pippa was acting sleepy, which is very unusual for her. Normally, she's running around when company is over. Once I figured out that she must have eaten the rolls, I called the Pet Poison Helpline. We discussed what and how much Pippa had eaten, and they instructed me to take her to the veterinary hospital."
After calling PPH, Collins took Pippa to the local veterinary emergency hospital. They found that Pippa's belly was distended, meaning the dough had expanded. The vet tried to prevent the unbaked rolls from rising any further by feeding Pippa ice chips to lower the temperature in her stomach.
If the rolls continued to rise they could cause a fatal stomach torsion.
“What would be occurring sitting on your kitchen counter ends up occurring in your pet’s stomach,” Dr. Renee Schmid, a board-certified veterinary toxicologist at Pet Poison Helpline told TODAY. “That dough rises and causes a stretching of the stomach, or a distention. And then that yeast as it ferments produces ethanol, an alcohol. So these animals can develop alcohol poisoning.”
via Pexels
The good news is that Pippa was able to expel the rolls herself without requiring any surgery. “Luckily, it didn’t come to surgery,” added Collins. “It was a very expensive Thanksgiving Day at the dog ER, but she’s back to full health now.”
This year, Pippa and her mom are sharing their story so dogs everywhere can have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. For Collins, it’s a lesson that she won’t forget while cooking this year’s meal.
“If I bake bread, I let it rise on the top of the refrigerator now,” Collins said. “But this Thanksgiving, I think I’m going to let someone else bring the rolls.”